Agents of WADDLES
by mon-ra
Summary: Waddles was suppose to drain his brain at the end of Abaconings. Instead he accidentally accelerated it, making him even smarter and more evolved. Thanks to his new heighten state, he learns of a grave danger to the world. Knowing that one pig can't save the world alone, he looks to create an elite team to aid him. I don't own any of the characters not even the OCs.
1. Recruitment Selection

' _Hello, my name is Waddles Pines and I am a Pig.'_

' _My origin story is not much different from other pigs. I was born on a farm, destine to be someone's dinner/breakfast and maybe a sandwich for a snack. But fate had other plans for me. It all started when me and a few of my brethren were taken to a cheap county fair and used as a prize. It was here where I met this most unusual human Mabel Pines. I do not know why it is, but she got this strange notion that I was oinking her name. When in actuality I was just coughing.'_

' _Needless to say she won me and took as a pet, naming me Waddles. Don't know why she bothered since my name was 15 poundy, but whatever. My time with her was some of the best I've ever known, I get to eat, sleep, have dance parties, and roll around in the dirt. Life was good. Then one day something amazing happened. Mabel's brother was collecting delicious mushrooms for me. Don't know why he grounded them up and spread it over his face but his sweat did add a nice salty flavor to them. That's when it happened, somehow I became self aware. I knew things I never knew before. Do things I could never do. Best of all I could finally communicate with the humans via my typing board that I modified to turn my words into sounds. As I started to enjoy my new found intelligence, building things with Dipper for the townsfolk, I was faced with a dilemma. Do I continue on with my work and try to make the world a better place? Or do I sacrifice everything I have gained for the love of one little girl? Looking into Mabel's eyes I knew there was only one choice. Setting my machine to drain my vast intellect and reduce myself to a mindless squealing animal.'_

' _While I was fully prepared to accept my place as Mabel's pet, but once again fate had other plans for me. As I have stated before, my little pig feet are cute and adorable, but they are also completely useless. Especially when it comes to wiring complex machinery. Even though I set the machine to drain my brain, instead it shorted out and increased my brain power exponentially. I felt myself evolving. Becoming more than pig, becoming more than life itself! I was being flung around the universe until I moved beyond it, beyond reality, beyond imagination.'_

' _Before I knew it I found myself at the hall of the Divine Infinite Congressional Senate or D.I.C.S. as some refer to them as. It was here that I learned that the members of this Senate are some of the most powerful beings in the multiverse, and that their goal is to preserve the balance. Curiosity peaked I found myself being mentored by this giant woman named Rose Quartz, who was the previous new kid. Thanks to my heighten brain I learned quickly and before I knew it, I was given a seat on the senate, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect.'_

' _Shortly after I was given a seat, the balance of the universe shifted to the side of light. While most beings would consider this as a good thing, we all knew better. We understood that the universe wants to be in balance. Not too dark and not too light, but just that perfect shade of gray. This of course meant that the dark forces will make their move to restore the balance; and the way things stand, they can destroy an entire continent and it still won't be enough.'_

' _Since we have no way of knowing how the dark forces will act, and the fact that we can't retaliate until the scale tips in favor of the dark again, I made a bold proposition: to recruit a team of normal humans to serve as my agents to track down any suspicious activity and neutralize it before anything disastrous happens. A controversial plan at best, but one I believe is the best chance to preserve the balance without the world succumb to chaos.'_

 **(A/N: Read Amazing Mystical Warriors Unite for the details.)**

' _Now that I got the go ahead, I'm going to need my team. In order to make sure I don't disturb the balance any further, I cannot recruit superhumans or those with magical talents. That will make things complicated. Also the senate has only authorized me the maximum number of recruits for a new agency, 7. 7 may be fine for a team of superheroes, but not for a team of humans. Fortunately I can work around this. According to the regulations agents are allowed sidekicks to assist them in their tasks. This means I can technically recruit 14 people on the grounds that half of them are partners. Partners who needed to work well together. Possibly best friends or siblings. While this has greatly reduced the number of potential candidates I originally had, mainly because many of them either act alone or are part of a larger team and won't like to be separated, I think it will work out for the best. Now on to the recruits, first off:_

* * *

Norman Babcock/Neil Downe (from Paranorman)

 _They say dead men don't tell tales. That is true except for Norman, a young boy gifted or cursed to see ghosts. It was through this gift that his bloodline kept the Witch of Blithe Hollow at bay. Though Norman has since ended the curse he still regularly converses with specters. This ability will be useful as he can use dead to gather vital intel and find out forgotten histories directly from the dead._

 _As for Neil, not much to say about him other than he's a loyal friend to Norman often providing good moral support. At least since his ordeal with zombies, he's finally decided to follow his older brother's advice and started working out. Hopefully he'll be strong enough for what is to come, or at the very least he might be useful as canon fodder._

* * *

Coraline Jones/Wyborn 'Wybie' Lovat (From Coraline)

 _Coraline, while lacking in the powers department, is not one to be underestimated. After all she is the first to beat the Beldam at her own game. After her adventures in the other world, Coraline has taken a more friendlier approach to her neighbors, even picking up a thing or two from them. Acquiring such skills as learning how to read tea leaves and crafting magical trinkets from hard candy from April Spink and Miriam Forcible. (What a waste of perfectly good candy) As well as acrobatics and mice taming from Sergei Bobinsky._

 _Wybie, while having no real set skills to speak of except maybe mountain biking, is very innovative. Allowing him to think outside the box. He is also very protective of Coraline fearing that the Beldam might still come after her._

* * *

James Neutron/Cindy Vortex (from Adventures of Jimmy Neutron)

 _Jimmy Neutron, boy genius whose inventions just seem to defy the laws of physics. While he doesn't normally deal with paranormal problems, he has on occasion saved the Earth from alien threats. His biggest problem is his ego which borderlines on arrogance._

 _Cindy Vortex, an above average student while not as smart as Jimmy she is still brilliant. Not only does she have intelligence, she is also a gifted athlete, musician, actor, and martial artist. Bringing in several skills that might prove even more useful than Jimmy's brain. She's also the only person that can keep Jimmy grounded._

* * *

Dib Membrane/Zim Irken (from Invader Zim)

 _Dib Membrane, rumored child prodigy of Professor Membrane, Dib is incredibly intelligent. Though he tends to use his intelligence more for chasing ghosts rather than anything productive. Still this makes him perfect for my needs. While I had considered making his sister Gaz his partner, taking into account her personality, it is most likely she would side with the dark forces so I had to reject her. Plus she just freaks me out._

 _Because of this I have chosen Zim to be his partner. An odd choice I admit since Zim is an alien trying to prepare the world for conquest by the Irken Empire. Unbeknownst to him the Tallest have no interest in Earth and only sent him here to exile him. While Zim has no desire to protect the Earth, he is determine to make sure it stays safe until he conquers it. Making him a usable pawn. Plus since his alignment is already evil, that helps with the balance department._

* * *

Elizabeth Thornberry/Darwin Thornberry (from the Wild Thornberrys)

 _Eliza, a good hearted girl with a love for animals. Which is why it came as no surprise to me to find out that she was gifted with the ability to speak with them. This will be handy as she will almost always have an army at her disposal. Thanks to her wild lifestyle, due to her parents hosting a nature show, she's an expert scuba diver, mountain climber, and all around survivalist. Add the fact that she lives in a mobile home that travels around the world, she has a better chance of finding trouble spots in remote regions._

 _Darwin Thornberry, Eliza's pet chimpanzee. Surprisingly very cultured for his species, he is also a voice of reason. Not only that, but as an ape he is already 3 times stronger than the average human with incredible agility._

* * *

Creepella Creecher/Skipper Tarantula (from Growing up Creepie)

 _Raised by bugs, Creepie isn't freaked out by outward appearances. Often finding humans to be more disgusting than bugs. So she isn't afraid of what goes bump in the night, and would go head first into danger. Her knowledge of the insect world allows her to command them, so like Eliza, she practically has her own army. But her greatest strength is her negotiation skills. Able to find that common ground that will allow all species to coexist peacefully. Which could prove useful if we want to prevent an all out war._

 _Skipper (Tarantula Boy) like Creepie was raised by insects. Technically arachnid, tarantula to be exact. Skipper grew up in a traveling carnival freak show as a human/tarantula hybrid (even though he's fully human). Eventually becoming an action movie star. As an action star doing his own stunts, Skipper has a well toned body, trained in martial arts for the fighting scenes, and an expert with the movie prop weapons. Even though he doesn't have any spider powers, he can still climb up walls like the best of them._

* * *

Cornelius Fillmore/Ingrid Third (from Fillmore)

 _While neither of them have any experience facing off against the supernatural, both have overcome incredible odds. Cornelius Fillmore, former delinquent now turn student safety patrol, is a natural detective with a keen eye for detail. Coming from the wrong side of the tracks he knows how the criminal mind works and often how to outwit it. He's also an expert on interrogation techniques making him ideal for questioning potential suspects._

 _Ingrid Third is also an excellent detective in her own right. While not as street smart as Fillmore, she does have a photographic memory that will come in very handy when tracking down the dark forces._

* * *

Sally Bollywood/Doowee MacAdams (from Sally Bollywood: Super Detective)

 _Following in the footsteps of her father, who is a PI, Sally started her own detective agency called SBI. Again while she has no real experience with supernatural, she is still a highly skilled individual. Not only a natural detective, she's also a master of Kalaripayattu an Indian martial art._

 _Doowee MacAdams is Sally's partner and tech support. Often creating gadgets that rivals Kim Possible's. Including special goggles that have finger print recognition and a camera that makes masks of people for disguise._

* * *

Riley Daring/Todd Daring (from The Replacements)

 _Todd and Riley were two orphans who were adopted by Richard Daring (Dick Daring) and Karen Mildred (Agent K). Respectively a professional daredevil and British secret agent. (I still can't fathom how that happened) Thanks to their parents these two have considerable skills, such as creating innovative vehicles like duck taping rockets onto a bathtub and rocketing over houses, and breaking into most of the government buildings around the world. But their greatest weapon is their connection to the Fleemco Co. Not only does Fleemco produce a variety of consumer products, it also is very efficient in the firing and hiring of personal or the Replacement Program as they like to call it. This could give Todd and Riley unlimited resources in terms of manpower and special assistance._

* * *

Edgar Schadenfreude/Ellen Schadenfreude (from Edgar and Ellen)

 _A unusual choice I admit considering their hobbies. Abandoned by their parents, Edgar and Ellen are renown for causing mischief and mayhem. Never the less they are both equally brilliant bordering on mad science, just in different fields. Edgar can build incredible machines out of junk and Ellen grows carnivorous intelligent plant life. Often misusing their genius for pranking. Still these talents make them excellent trap masters and strategist. They'd most likely survive most ordeals that would kill others. Plus I think they'll find the idea of going up against evil masterminds to be an entertaining idea. I only wish that they wear something other than those striped pajamas._

* * *

#18/#23 (from American Dragon: Jake Long)

 _Another odd choice considering their backgrounds. #18 and #23 (or is it #32?) were both members of the Huntsclan. However they were kicked out of the Huntsclan Academy after numerous bouts. While fighting is taught and encourage, fighting each other on a regular basis over boys is highly frowned upon, eventually getting both girls expelled not only from the school but from the clan as well. Ironically this ended up saving them when a wish was made to destroy the Huntsclan, since technically they weren't a part of it anymore. (Magic is weird that way) Despite not being part of the clan anymore, the two continued to use their training, hunting down magical creatures and selling them, or rather parts of them, on the black market. While the Huntsclan have a twisted sense of honor, they honestly believe that they are the protectors the world. Hopefully I can use that to persuade them to join me against a new threat to this world._

* * *

Marco Diaz/Janna (from Star vs the Forces of Evil)

 _Another strange choice since Marco is famed for being a safe kid. (Seriously, he wears a helmet and life preservers in the shower.) Strangely enough he also has an adventurous spirit and is renown for fighting monsters. Even though he's just a green belt at strip mall karate. Never the less he does have experience traveling to other dimensions and he has a magic vacuum. Not really sure what it does though._

 _Since I cannot recruit Star Butterfly, on the grounds that she's a magical princess from another dimension, I have selected Janna to be his partner. Janna seems to have great interest in monsters and shows no fear even in life threatening situations. Plus she's a natural pickpocket which might come in handy. Though I do question her sanity._

* * *

Clarence Buttowski/Gunther Mangnuson (from Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil)

 _Clarence or Kick as he prefers to be called is an amateur daredevil on a constant adrenaline rush. He is highly skilled performing stunts/extreme sports and has a high threshold of pain, almost able walk it off whenever he wipes out. He also seems to have the ability to warp the laws of physics using what he calls the laws of awesomeness. (Yeah I don't get it either and I have a brain that can see things in 10 dimensions.)_

 _Gunther hails from a proud Viking family that is deeply set in the old ways. While normally nice, calm, and collected; when aggravated or on a sugar rush from drinking too much Cheetah Chug Gunther shows incredible strength and almost animal like rage. This leads me to believe that he may be a descendant of the Berserkers. Apart from his fierceness, Gunther's greatest attribute is how he always seems to have exactly what Kick needs when he needs it. Such as having the blue prints of the dog pound tattooed on his back._

* * *

Pablo Da Vinci/Zoe Da Vinci (from the DaVincibles)

 _Pablo and Zoe are world class treasure hunters. Practically Indiana Jones level, able to sniff out traps like a pro. There isn't a old temple or unexplored regions on the Earth that they cannot conquer. Pablo is a natural athlete and can almost always find his way out of any life or death situation. Often at the expense of his family in the process. Zoe is a walking encyclopedia, she knows almost everything there is to know about ancient civilizations and art._

* * *

A.J./Chester McBadbat (from Fairly Odd Parents)

 _A.J. is a scientific genius able to create a time machine using only paper clip and yarn. Despite the fact that his brilliance can save the world, he deliberately holds himself back so as to stay with his not so smart friends at school. Which I can respect._

 _One such friend is Chester. Short on brains but big on heart. Always puts others ahead of himself. Which is impressive on it's own but when you consider that he lives in poverty, that makes his selflessness even grander. While having no real set of skills, Chester is able to use his braces in the most creative ways, such as digging a tunnel out of jail, using them to bridge cracks on a skate ramp, and even using them as a weapon against coyotes._

* * *

Ace McDoudal/Athol Savage (from Get Ace)

 _Speaking of braces, Ace McDoudal, a proverbial monkey with dynamite. After accidentally receiving special spy braces equipped with 50 high tech gadgets and weapons meant for a super villain. He uses it mainly to slack off or to show off. Often being more of a threat to himself than any villain he crosses. Never the less he seems to manage to pull through somehow, beating all odds. Although I am a bit concerned that he seems to talk to himself a lot. Hopefully his friendship with Athol will help him mature._

 _Athol is a misunderstood gorilla. (I think) Again small on brains but big on heart. For years he's been ostracized by his peers and teachers due to his immense size and strength, often intimidating most without any ill intent. In truth he's very gentle and really cares about others especially Ace who he keeps calling Face. He befriended Ace after Ace accidentally saved his life and is now completely devoted to him._

* * *

Lee Ping/Biffy Goldstein (from Detentionaire)

 _Accused of a vicious prank, Lee was giving a years detention earning him the nickname Detentionaire. Hoping to clear his name, Lee took it upon himself to investigate the prank to find out the truth. During which he had to break out of detention, sneak passed teachers and Hazmats, interview suspects, and make it back in time to make it look like he's carrying out his punishment. While his goal was simply to find out the truth behind the prank, he soon stumbles on a plot to use mind control to take over the world by a race of humanoid lizards. Fortunately for him he's immune to mind control._

 _Biffy is a gentle giant, with a brain the size of his biceps. Not only can he break most things with his bare hands; he's also a master with cell phones. He can use them for a variety of tasks, such as tracking, spying, and coordinating Lee in and out of tight spots. I wouldn't be surprised if he could make his phones sing and dance as well. Like Lee, Biffy also seems to be immune to mind control._

* * *

Gage Allen/Christopher Savon (OC created by The Keeper of Worlds)

 _Gage Allen has paranormal sense and extreme empathic (able to feel other's emotions). He is your roughly average kid who never fit in one social circle. He made friends with few, and was bullied a lot for being a good student and a so-called teacher's pet. Over time he learned about his ability to feel emotions and sense paranormal things, and used them to hunt down a cult trying to evoke the seven sins._

 _Always by his side Chris Savon. A loyal friend through thick and thin, he helped Gage be confident to defend himself and keeps him active with weekly spars._

* * *

Dipper Pines/Pacifica Northwest (from Gravity Falls)

 _Finally Dipper Pines, my owner's twin brother. Incredibly brilliant, though admittedly not as smart as he pretends to be. He is a natural detective with an interest in the paranormal. As for his physical abilities, they seem to be inconsistent. One moment he's strong enough to take down monsters like the Gremgoblin, the next he can't even throw a water balloon pass one ft. (Maybe he's like Popeye and only gets strong when he eats spinach?) Either way he's met up with countless ordeals and have managed to survive them, and now he has access to his Uncle Ford's tools and weapons. That will aid him greatly._

 _Normally I would have selected his sister Mabel...Mabel (sigh). His sister Mabel to be his partner being that they are the Mystery Twins, but I've come to realize that she's not very reliable in most situations. Often getting easily distracted especially when there's a boy, something cute, or sugar involved. This is why I've opted to recruit Dipper's girlfriend Pacifica instead. While she has an attitude problem, she is more focused than most. Pacifica is also a lot smarter and physically more capable than most people give her credit, and unlike with Wendy, Dipper won't get too distracted working with her._

* * *

Waddles looked over his list of potential candidates. "19 teams, 38 individuals," he counted off. "Every single one of them would make an excellent agent," Waddles sighed sadly as he looked over at the 7 invites with 14 pink pig head shaped badges attached to them. "But I can only recruit 7 pairs. I wonder who should they be?" he thought to himself.

 **A/N: Who do you think Waddles should choose? Please go to my profile and cast your vote.**


	2. Winners of the Golden Tickets

' _It has been several days now. Since then I have been narrowing down my choices by special skills required, and by arranging several tests for my candidates. Now I believe I have found the perfect 7 for my team. All I need to do now is to send out the invitations and badges and hope they respond favorably.'_

* * *

X Middle School

"SURPRISE!" the members of the X Middle School safety patrol cheered as their two finest officers entered the room. Presenting them with a fancy cake with the number 100 decorated on it.

"Well this is a surprise. What's the occasion?" Fillmore asked.

"I've been going over the records, and you two have just made your 100th arrest." Commissioner Vallejo congratulated taking a sip of his cocoa.

"Has it really been a hundred?" Ingrid said as she took a slice of cake.

"You're the one with the photographic memory you tell us," Karen teased.

Closing her eyes, Ingrid rubbed the sides of head and counted off. "Yup it has been a hundred." Ingrid confirmed.

"Even so it not really something to celebrate," Fillmore said sternly.

"What do you mean?" Ingrid asked.

"Because this means that we encountered 100 delinquents. I was kind of hoping that there would be less than that here." Fillmore said sadly.

"I know it's not a perfect world but at least we're doing something about it. I mean that's why we became safety patrol. Besides any excuse to party right." Ingrid comforting him.

"Yeah you're right." Fillmore smiled as he took a slice of cake.

"Speaking of which, this came for you two." Vallejo said handing Fillmore an envelope addressed to him and Ingrid. Opening the letter Fillmore read:

 _To officers Cornelius Fillmore and Ingrid Third,_

 _We have received word of your success and invite you two to the National Safety Patrol Convention. Here you will meet other top Safety Patrol Officers to exchange ideas and strategies. We are looking forward to seeing you here._

Fillmore looked at the train tickets and the strange badges that came with the invite. "So what do you think?" he asked suspiciously.

"I've been in the force for a long time and I've never heard of a Safety Patrol convention," Vallejo said.

"Maybe it's a new thing they've just started," O'Farrell shrugged.

"Or it could be a trap," Ingrid suggested.

"Either way this bolds checking out. If it's real then we have nothing to worry about and it might be fun and informative meeting with other Safety Patrol Officers." Fillmore said.

"And if it is a trap?" Ingrid asked.

"We spring the trap of course," Fillmore smiled confidently.

* * *

Pleasant Hills

"Ah another successful replacement." Todd smiled taking off his fake moustache, knowing fully well this replacement he set up will make life miserable for his life long nemesis Buzz Winters, who made the request.

"You know this is a job right and not your personal revenge system," Riley lectured him.

"Oh come on, what's the point of having the world's coolest job if you can't abuse it for your own personal gain from time to time?" Todd argued.

"Well responsibility for one thing," Riley pointed out. Which got Todd to gag at her since he hates that word. "It's also illegal for another." That got his attention, but only for a second.

"Well it's a good thing I'm still a minor." Todd brushed off. Believing that even if what his sister says is true, he still won't actually go to prison.

"Actually, if the crime is severe enough even the youngest child can be trialled as an adult." their mother Agent K informed him coming out of her secret hiding place under the carpet.

"Hi mom," the kids greeted. After years of her popping out of strange places due to her being a spy and all, Todd and Riley are no longer startled at her sudden appearances. In fact thanks to her training, they can spot a disguise or a person hiding a mile away. Which makes playing hide and seek and finding Waldo very easy and very boring.

"So I can really go to jail for real because of this?" Todd gulped.

"Oh yes, in fact I've apprehended few executive minors who've done similar crimes." Agent K informed him. Again Todd gulped in terror since he knows how much his mom likes to brag about her work. Which is weird her being a spy and all. "Speaking of executive minors, this came for you." Agent K handed her kids a letter. "I don't know how that mailman got past my surveillance but I'll be ready for him tomorrow," Agent K swore. Riley opened it up and quickly read through it.

"What's it say?" Todd asked impatiently.

"It's an invite for weekend meeting for all Junior Executives. Where we will talk about world market and business practices." Riley said with excitement.

"Boring," Todd yawn.

"Did I forget to mention that it's taking place at Great Wolf Lodge and it's a parent free event." Riley added.

"Can we go mom?" Todd asked enthusiastically, already planning on all sorts of mischief.

"I don't know, an invitation for all the wealthiest kids with no supervision. I smell a trap. Let me investigate this before you go off." Agent K ordered before using her cable gun to swing away.

"But according to this the train is about to leave soon." Riley said.

"Let's ask C.A.R. if he'll take us to the train station." Todd suggested.

"What? You want to disobey your mother, who by the way is my owner and my partner, and you want me to be an accomplice?" C.A.R. gasped, or he would if he had a mouth. Him being an A.I. car and all.

"So does that mean no?" Todd sulked.

"Actually it means if I can have you two out of my hood for the weekend then of course I'll help. Hop in." C.A.R. said opening his doors. "And if it is a trap, so much the better." C.A.R. muttered. The kids were far too excited to hear that last part.

* * *

A. Nigma High

"Man it feels good to get out of school at the end of the day," Lee said after the final bell rung.

"What, you don't miss being the Detentionaire," his best friend Cam teased.

"Hey I'm not like Biffy," Lee shot back.

"What's wrong with Biffy?" Biffy asked mysteriously appearing behind them.

"Oh I just mean that I don't really like detention like you do," Lee said nervously. Even though the two of them are friends and have saved the world together, Lee still thinks that Biffy is intends on killing him one day. "Speaking of which, you don't have detention today?"

"That's right I do love detention, but not today. In fact it's the reason I wanted to see you." Biffy said ominously. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a letter and handed it to Lee.

 _Dear Mr. Biffy T. Goldstein and Mr. Lee Ping,_

 _We represent a big Television network and we are interested in doing a piece on the Prank at A. Nigma High. Since the two of you were in the middle of it we'd like to hear your side of the story. There are tickets and special badges included in this letter. Oh there will also be an all you can eat buffet provided. We hope to see you two and only you two soon._

 _Sign  
the Network_

"What? No fair, why only you two man? I mean I was in the middle of everything too." Cam complained.

"Yeah right, while we were risking our lives investigating Green Apple Splat, you were busy running for student body president." Biffy teased.

"Hey that was a distraction so that Lee can sneak out of detention. Not to mention how much it helped to have a friend like me in high places." Cam argued. "Besides I thought I was a pretty good president, you know before the scandal."

"Well I'll be sure to mention that little footnote," Biffy teased.

"You better," Cam warned.

"Say Biffy, why do you even want to do this? You hate getting attention." Lee asked.

"Oh I don't care about the attention, I want that all you can eat buffet." Biffy said.

"That's good as any reason to check this out," Lee agreed.

* * *

Nod's Limbs

A poor mailman nervously made his way to Tower Mansion. Carefully tiptoeing to the mailbox, he breathed a sigh of relief that nothing has happened to him. But as he opened the mailbox a giant orange beast jumped out at him! The mailman screamed in terror as he fled the mansion dropping his mailbag with all his letters. "Well done brother," Ellen praised. "But why a big tabby cat?"

"I got the idea from a comic strip," Edgar said popping the inflatable cat sticking out of their mailbox.

"I'm sure Garfield would have been very proud," Ellen teased. Looking down on the pile of mail she spotted one with their address on it. "Oh hey this one is for us," she said opening the letter.

"Who's it from?" Edgar asked.

"Ugh, it's from that Twinstitute. They way they want to give us another chance to enroll." Ellen read.

"Why would we even want to go back to that snobbish school, even though it has all those wonderful instruments that I can only dream of getting." Edgar lost in thought about the last time he was there.

"And the plants. Oh what I could do with them." Ellen drooled.

"Ehem, I see no reason why we can't just indulge them," Edgar suggested. Truthfully hoping that they will accept them this time around; and if they don't he can just blow the place up.

"Wait, they want us to come this weekend." Ellen gasped showing her brother the invite.

"So what?" Edgar wondering what the problem is.

"Stephanie's birthday party. We were planning to crash it, literally!" Ellen reminded him. Directing his attention to the armored Police Tank that Edgar found in the gadget graveyard, and has been working on for weeks to use on Stephanie's party.

Edgar was conflicted; on one hand he really wants a shot at going to the Twinsititute, but he really wants to drive a tank through Stephanie's party. "Well this is a once, actually twice in a lifetime opportunity," Edgar argued taking one of the badges for himself.

"I guess sacrifices have to be made," Ellen said sadly taking the other badge. Ruining Stephanie's birthday was always the highlight of the year for her. Ellen just feels empty not doing it.

"Hey on the bright side, at least we know that Stephanie will be having another birthday next year for us to ruin." Edgar said hoping to cheer up his sibling.

"That's true," Ellen smiled. After all it did give her something to look forward to.

* * *

Skool

"I tell you Gaz, Zim is up to something," Dib rambled on watching his nemesis leaving.

"Who cares? He's to dumb to actually do anything." Gaz argued as she angrily stepped on her brother's foot.

"Ow," Dib straining to endure the pain while still keeping an eye on Zim. After Zim left the skool grounds Dib got up. "Come on we've got to follow him." Dib yelled chasing after Zim.

"Whatever," Gaz said walking off in the opposite direction.

"Good thinking Gaz I'll chase him while you cut him off." Dib thinking that Gaz is taking a shortcut to intercept Zim. Even though she's just going home. As Dib rounded a corner near Zim's house, he bumped into a strange fat man wearing a trench coat and fedora. "Excuse me sir." Dib apologized and about to resume the chase, hoping to catch Zim before he makes it to the safety of his house.

"Wait Agent Mothman," the man said.

"Who are you? And how do you know my code name?" Dib asked.

"I'm Agent Piggut and my eye is swollen." the man said. Dib recognizes the code phrase to identify members of the Swollen Eyeball.

"Are you hear to help me with my mission against Zim?" Dib asked.

"No forget your normal human green friend, we have another assignment for you." Agent Piggut reached into his trench coat and pulled out a letter. "We have received word that a powerful new doomsday weapon is been developed and will be presented at a special tech convention. We need you to find it and safeguard it. These tickets and special badges will allow you entrance into the convention. Any questions?"

"Why me?" Dib had to know, since he's fully aware that he isn't well liked in the Swollen Eyeball.

"Because we have been watching you for a long time, and we are fully confident that you are the man for this mission." Agent Piggut said. "Also our benefactor specifically said if we got you to do it we'd be paid a special bonus."

"I won't let you down," Dib saluted. "But why are there two badges?"

"That's a spare," Piggut said.

"Spare for what?" Dib wondered.

"Piggy!" Gir squealed as the little robot disguised as a green dog came jumping down on Dib.

"Hey get off of me!" Dib demanded.

"Okay," Gir complied holding one of the badges.

"Hey give that back!" Dib demanded.

"No piggy is mine," Gir laughed as he ran into the house.

"Oh no," Dib cried.

"It's alright Agent Mothman, this is why we have a spare." Agent Piggut assured him. "And we were also ordered to let that dog steal it," Agent Piggut whispered staring at Zim's house.

"Huh?' Dib getting all confused.

"Don't you have a train to catch," Agent Piggut reminded him. Looking at the tickets Dib realized that the train was going to be leaving soon. Believing that this mission is more important than Zim, Dib ran as fast as he could to the train station.

Inside Zim's secret base under his house. "So this thing is the key to obtaining some new doomsday weapon." Zim said examining the badge.

"That's what the funny looking man with the funny name said." Gir reported.

"Then I must beat the Dib to this weapon whatever it is, and I will because I am Zim!" Zim ranted.

"Wait I want my piggy back," Gir said grabbing the badge.

"No Gir I need it," Zim ordered.

"No!" Gir shaking his head.

"Here I'll trade you for some ugh pizza," Zim gagged as he picked up a moldy slice of pizza that Gir surprisingly missed. Oh how he can't stand earth food.

"Okay," Gir said handing Zim the badge, Zim then tossed the pizza slice at Gir who happily ate it all up. Good thing robots can't die of food poisoning.

* * *

Echo Creek

"Yay, it's the weekend, school's over! No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks." Star Butterfly happily sang as she did several somersaults and conjuring up some pretty rainbow fireworks in celebration.

"Only for two days Star," Marco Diaz reminded her.

"Oh Marco why do you always have to nit pick the details. Let's just enjoy our time off." Star preached.

"Okay, what do you want to do? Go to the pirate dimension? See how pointy head is doing at St. Olga's?" Marco suggested.

"Yeah those are all good, but right now I want to beat up that suspicious character that keeps coming to your house everyday!" Star growled as she charged towards the intruder scaring him away. "And don't come back!" Star warned. "Why does he keep coming back?"

"Star I keep telling you that's the mailman. It's his job to deliver the mail. That's why he comes by everyday." Marco tried to explain again. "Oh looks like I got some mail.," Marco said opening this strange envelope. ' _Dear Marco Diaz,'_ Marco read. _'This is the National School Safety Board. We are informing you that we have received several of your recommendations on how we can make our schools safer and would like discuss the matter with you personally. Inside we have included two train tickets and special badges. So that you and a friend can come to our main office.'_

"Oh a trip, looks like we know what we're doing this weekend." Star said with great anticipation.

Marco smiled as he continued reading. _'We look forward to hours upon hours of meetings, analyzing, and discussions about the future of our school's policies.'_ "Sounds like fun huh Star," Marco said with excitement only to be horrified with Star's sagging facial expression.

"Are you kidding! If I wanted to waste my weekend on a dumb meeting I would have joined my father at this ambassador's luncheon. No thanks I'm out of here. Rocket Bunnies!" Star chanted pointing her wand to the ground. A magical blast propelled her skyward leaving a trail of bunnies behind her.

"Looks like I'm going to need a new plus one," Marco said looking at the spare ticket and badge. "Maybe Jackie Lynn Thomas will want to go with me," Marco swooned as hearts started to form in his eyes. Already imagining himself impressing her with his debating skills and new innovative safety ideas.

"What you got there Marco," a creepy voice asked.

"Ah! Janna don't sneak up on me like that!" Marco scolded.

"I didn't sneak, you were just too busy daydreaming to notice me." Janna giggled. Truthfully she was sneaking, but she enjoys making Marco feel stupid. "So what is that?" she asked again.

"If you must know, this is an invitation to School Safety Board Office. They want me and one other to meet with them to discuss safety regulations." Marco said proudly.

"Wow you're reputation as the safe kid is finally paying off." Janna teased.

"Hey I'm not a safe kid. I'm a rebel, a bad boy!" Marco insisted.

"Right, so when do we leave?" Janna asked.

"Oh no, your not going with me." Marco shaking his head.

"Of course I am, I stole your other ticket and this little pig thing." Janna said holding up the ticket and badge before running off.

"JAAAANNNNNAAA!" Marco screamed as he chased after her.

* * *

Piedmont

"Oh boy the weekend at last. I thought it would never get here." Mabel cheered.

"Yeah, so what do you want to do? Go to the movies? Mall? Check out the latest monster magazines?" Dipper asked.

"I want to do them all!" Mabel screamed into the air. Normally Dipper would be embarrassed about Mabel's behavior, but after all that happen in Weirdmageddon, he's just happy that she's still around.

"Yo Mapes," this boy sporting a punk rock look said.

"Hi Mordecai. How's the band?" Mabel swooned. Dipper on the other hand sulked. He didn't know much about this guy, only that he's in some garage band and has obviously never read anything higher than Dr. Seuss. Also he is currently Mabel's crush of the week. Of course the fact that he doesn't even know Mabel's name doesn't bode well for this imaginary relationship.

"Great, the teach says we can practice in the gym, so me and the guys are about to jam. Want to watch?" Mordecai asked.

"Oh yes. Yes. YES!" Mabel cheered.

"But Mabel, I thought we were going to hang out?" Dipper whined.

"No proble brah, you can watch us too." Mordecai invited.

"No thanks I'm going to be busy." Dipper rejected.

"Shoot yourself," Mordecai shrugged as he headed off to the gym. With Mabel following him; leaving Dipper all alone.

"I can't believe I gave up a chance to be Uncle Ford's apprentice for this," Dipper sighed. It's times like this when he really wishes he's back in Gravity Falls with his girlfriend Pacifica. Just then Mabel's pet pig Waddles started cuddling up on Dipper's leg. "Hey Waddles, what are you doing here? Did Mabel sneak you in to school again?" Dipper asked scratching the pig behind the ear. Waddles simply squealed joyfully. "If you're looking for Mabel she's in the gym." Dipper pointing the way, which he knows is moot since Waddles can't understand him. However the pig didn't run off. Instead he kept nudging Dipper in another direction. Not knowing what's going on, Dipper followed the pig to the school's parking lot. There he spotted a familiar looking limo, and inside a very familiar girl. "Waddles did you bring me here for this?" Dipper asked. Waddles just happily squealed as he rolled around in the mud. "I suppose that's giving you too much credit, but thanks anyways." Dipper smiled giving the pig a quick belly rub before going to meet with Pacifica.

"Dipper you're here," Pacifica greeted giving him a hug.

"Of course I'm here but what are you doing here?" Dipper asked.

"Well I received this invite the other day," Pacifica showing him the letter. "It's for a high society mystery house game. They were asking for two people and I thought that maybe you can help me win." Pacifica tells him. Dipper quickly reads the invite and then looks at the badges which are suppose to be a requirement for participation. While he really would like to do this, it is rather sudden. Plus he's not sure how his parents or Mabel will react to him leaving for the whole weekend. "I already asked your mom and she says it's fine," Pacifica assured him almost as if she could read his mind.

That left only Mabel, but considering how she just ditched him to go drooling after some guy, he sees no reason why he can't ditch her to spend some quality time with his girlfriend who came all the way down here from Oregon just to see him. "Sure why not," Dipper said accepting her invitation.

"Great let's hurry to the train station," Pacifica instructed. Dipper quickly got into the limo but just before he could close the door, Waddles came jumping in. "Gross get that animal out of my car!" Pacifica demanded.

"Oh come on Pacifica, can't you just give the little guy a ride back to my house?" Dipper pleaded.

"Fine," Pacifica pouted.

Due to the schedule, the knew they didn't have time to drop off Waddles and head to the train station; so they headed for the station first, with Pacifica instructing the Chauffeur to drop the pig off at the Pines house and not the butcher. However once they reached the train station, Waddles jumped out of the car and ran straight towards the tracks. Dipper and Pacifica quickly gave chase, having to stop for a few seconds while the conductors checked their tickets, and soon found him at the track where their train was waiting.

"We got to catch him before he gets on that train," Dipper said as he ran after Waddles. But as soon as all three were on board the doors closed and the train started moving. "Oh great Mabel is not going to like this," Dipper groaned. It's bad enough that he's ditching her over the weekend, now Waddles is ditching her as well.

"Um Dipper something is not right here," Pacifica gulped.

"What do you mean?" Dipper asked only to see what she was talking about. Looking around in the train, they could only see 12 other people, all kids and they all have the same badges that he has. "Maybe there also going to that Mystery House?" Dipper said hopefully even though something inside him is pretty sure that's not the case.

Off to the side, Waddles smiled seeing that all of his selectees have accepted his invitation. Now he only hope that they will accept his proposal.


	3. Introduction to PHQ

Fillmore check the time on his ticket and the schedule at the train station. As he suspected there was no train scheduled to arrive. This can only mean that this is an elaborate prank or some kind of trap. Either way, even though the train station is out of his jurisdiction, Fillmore was getting into full on Safety Patrol Officer mode. Expecting a full ambush around the time of the train's arrival. "Something wrong?" Ingrid asked her partner.

"Just a hunch, hopefully nothing." Fillmore said as to not worry her.

"Well the train is here," Ingrid said as this strange rather futuristic looking train rolled into the station. Fillmore crooked his eyebrow curiously as he watched the train pull up to the station. He'd never suspected a trap so elaborate that they would actually arrange a real train. As they got inside, they saw only 6 other people in the car. The strange thing is that they were all kids and they all seem to be in a pair of sorts. As Ingrid was about to sit in the nearest seat, Fillmore gestured her to follow him. Knowing that look on his face, Ingrid didn't argue and followed him to the back of the car. "What's wrong?" Ingrid finally asked as they took their seats.

"I just got a bad feeling that's all. Let's just observe these others first." Fillmore said suspecting that maybe one or all of them might be up to something. All he needed now was to find some sort of connection.

* * *

Over to where Marco and Janna were sitting, Marco groaned in pain as his face started turning green. "What's wrong with your face?" Janna teased.

"Nothing, I just got motion sickness." Marco said trying not to vomit.

"Really? Because you never seemed to have a problem riding the school bus, or in your parents' car, or when Star used her magic to propel you on your bike, or when she let you ride on the royal carriage, or" Janna counted off.

"Okay I get it," Marco cutting her off. In all honesty he thought it was kind of strange that he only got sick on the party bus. Must have been those bad oysters. "But how do you know all of that?" Marco had to know but was afraid to ask.

"Better to ask what I don't know about you," Janna laughed creepily while playing with her pig badge. Causing Marco to wonder if she's the real cause of his discomfort and not the moving car. Seeing her playing with her pig badge made him brings his out as well, wondering why the School's Safety Board would choose such a strange design.

* * *

Over with Edgar and Ellen. The mischief twins were excited about going back to the Twinstitute. "This is it Sister. The first day of the rest of our lives." Edgar said proudly.

"You said it Brother." Ellen agreed. "Let's celebrate by pranking one of these dopes."

"Excellent suggestion, but who?" Edgar wondered and he scanned all the passengers. There was only 6 other people in the car. Looking over at Marco and Janna, it looks like the boy was dying of motion sickness. Way too easy for them. Another pair at the back (Fillmore and Ingrid) just screamed authority figures. While Edgar and Ellen normally loves sticking it to the man, they didn't want to get into too much trouble with the fuzz just yet. The last pair were these two weird kids, weird even by Edgar and Ellen's standards, one who was more even green than Marco and the other with a very big head. (Dib and Zim) Both glaring at each other like if they were having a staring contest of death. While the twins don't discriminate, it was clear that these two were far too focused on each other and probably wouldn't even noticed if someone had pranked them. "Not too many potential targets I'm afraid." Edgar sighed sadly.

"Then let us just prank the next person that comes in," Ellen suggested.

"Brilliant Sister," Edgar praised as he started going through his satchel for pranking supplies that he placed their pig badges on the table.

"Here they come," Ellen said excitedly. As the train was slowing down at the next station.

"One ultra stink bomb ready and waiting," Edgar showing her his latest invention. A catapult made from an old mouse trap that can hurl a stink bomb over long distances without revealing that it came from them.

Ellen was giving a countdown. They had the timing of when the train stops, to the opening of the doors, to when the passengers would enter, down to a science. As the only two new arrivals entered, Ellen's eyes widen in horror. "Wait! We can't prank them." Ellen said blocking Edgar's ability to fire the stink bomb.

"Why not?" Edgar demanded.

"Don't you recognize that guy? It's Leaping, the Detentionaire!" Ellen said excitedly.

"Whoa you mean the guy who pulled off the greatest prank in history earning him a year's detention?" Edgar said in deep admiration. Ellen nodded in confirmation.

"Come on let's go introduce ourselves." Ellen squealed with excitement. The twins made their way to where Lee and Biffy were sitting. "Um Excuse me but are you Leaping, the guy responsible for the Prank?"

"Ugh, it's Lee Ping okay. Two words." Lee corrected her. He really hates it when people mispronounce his name.

"Our mistake," Edgar apologized. "But about the prank?"

"Look it wasn't me alright. I was framed." Lee stressed.

"It's alright. You don't have to hide it from us." Edgar nudged.

"Yeah we're pranksters ourselves, and we were hoping to share ideas. And get an autograph maybe." Ellen blushed.

"Sorry but I really wasn't responsible for the prank," Lee repeated. Causing Edgar and Ellen to scowl as they returned to their seats.

"Looks like you offended two of your admirers," Biffy laughed while playing with his badge.

"So what, and why are you messing with that?" Lee asked. "It's kind of creepy."

"I think it's cute. See the cute little piggy." Biffy waving the badge in Lee's face like it is a stuff animal or something.

"Well that's disappointing," Ellen said.

"I guess this is why you shouldn't meet your heroes," Edgar added.

"Should we just go ahead and prank him?" Ellen asked.

"No, I don't feeling like pranking anymore." Edgar sulked.

At the next stop Todd and Riley entered the train. Already wearing their badges on their shirts, they had a smug attitude about themselves. "You want to take out your frustrations on these two?" Ellen asked.

"Look, I said I'm too upset to prank okay!" Edgar pouted. Ellen just sat quietly next to her brother. She really hates it when he gets like this.

* * *

"I may have found something here," Ingrid said.

"What do you mean?" Fillmore asked.

"This," Ingrid said showing him the pig badges they got in the invite. "All these kids also have these badges, and I don't think any of them are here for the Safety Patrol convention." she observed.

"So all these kids were lured here," Fillmore theorized.

"But for what?" Ingrid wondered.

"Well obviously there's a mastermind behind all this, and he or they would either be the first one on this train, or the last ones." Fillmore figured.

"But how will we know who the mastermind is?" Ingrid asked.

"More than likely this will be our clue," Fillmore said pointing to the pig badges. A few seconds later the train stopped and this cute little pig came running in, chased by two kids. "Disco," Fillmore cheered.

"What?" Ingrid asked, knowing that Fillmore only says that when he's had a break in the case.

"Those kids, they have a pig with them. Pig pet and pig badges, it can't be a coincidence." Fillmore said as he got up to confront the newest passengers. "Excuse me X Middles School Safety Patrol." Fillmore identified himself showing Dipper and Pacifica his officer's badge. "I have a few questions for you."

"A little far from home aren't you officer?" Pacifica mocked.

"And when do Safety Patrol act like cops? Don't you guys just give out tardy slips or something." Dipper wondered since the Safety Patrol in Piedmont were just glorified Hall Monitors.

"Those that take their jobs seriously do," Fillmore said getting into Dipper's face.

"Alright what's this all about? We have rights you know." Pacifica demanded.

"This," Fillmore said showing them his pig badge. This got Dipper's attention as he pulled out his badge, and not just him but all the passengers as well.

"So I take it you guys are all here for the Mystery Party?" Dipper asked hopefully.

"I was invited to a Safety Patrol meeting," Fillmore said.

"Same here," Marco jumped in. "Okay maybe not Safety Patrol exactly but I was requested by the School's safety board. That's sort of like the same thing."

"Hold up this isn't the train for the Twinstitute?" Ellen complained.

"That's weird, we were told it was a Junior Executive Meeting." Riley said feeling confused.

"We were invited by the TV network," Lee said.

"And promised an all you can eat buffet!" Biffy stressed.

"You mean this the bus isn't taking me to the new super weapon that I'm planning to use to help the Irken Empire conquer the Earth!" Zim ranted, causing everyone to stare at him. "Which would never do since I am human with a skin condition." Zim added.

"Alright talk," Fillmore interrogating Dipper again.

"Why me?" Dipper asked.

"We all got strange invitations leading us here as well as these strange pig badges. You're the only one who came in here with a pig." Fillmore holding his badge next to Waddles's face. "Notice any resemblance," Fillmore asked. Dipper facepalmed himself for not noticing the similarities between the pig badges and Waddles, but in his defense he really didn't have much time to examine them.

"Look I'm sorry but I honestly don't know what's going on," Dipper pleaded.

 _"Please don't terrorize my friend_ _, he had nothing to do with this."_ a strange new voice said, or rather just entered their minds.

 _"_ Who said that?" they all demanded looking around.

 _"That would be me,"_ Waddles said telepathically walking to the center of the train.

"Dipper did your sister's pig just speak?" Pacifica gulped.

"He must be wearing something like the Cloak of Translations that Gompers had." Dipper theorized.

 _"Nice theory, but no. Actually I'm a highly evolved Pig with mental powers allowing me to speak telepathically."_ Waddles explained.

"But how did you get like this?" Dipper asked.

 _"An excellent question. Dipper you recall when you tried to use the percepshrooms?"_ Waddles reminded him.

"Oh right," Dipper snapping his fingers. "But wait, didn't you drain your brain? Also didn't Grunkle Stan make that story up?" Dipper shrugged.

 _"Dipper, Dipper, Dipper. You of all people should know by now that sometimes what we perceive is not always the truth, and sometimes what we imagined is in fact reality."_ Waddles lectured.

"I'd argue with you, but I'm talking to a talking pig." Dipper said unable to comprehend what Waddles is saying.

"Speaking of which, can you please not talk to us telepathically? I feel uncomfortable having someone in my mind." Todd protested.

"You need a mind first," Riley teased. "But I'm with my brother. This is kind of freaky."

 _"Very well,"_ Waddles conceded. Using his other mental powers he summoned a futuristic looking hover scooter and sat down on it and started typing on the mini keypad. "There I think you will find this more accommodating," Waddle's voice came out of the speaker on the hover scooter.

"Why do you need this thing?" the kids asked.

"You see, while my brain is more advanced, I'm afraid that my vocal cords are not. So I can only ponk." Everyone stared at him. "I mean oink. Sorry, my little pig arms are cute but useless, so I might misspell a worf or two." Waddles typed.

"So true," Biffy giggled. He can't help but find a little pig riding a scooter to be too adorable.

* * *

"Ah we're here. Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to Pig Headquarters, or PHQ for short. Name pending." Waddles said as the train pulled in to the final stop. "Now if you all please follow me." The kids followed Waddles to what looked like a meeting room with a large round table. Also in the room was a fountain decorated with winged pigs and filled with mud. There's also a giant portrait of Waddles in a suit with the words 'Our Beloved Founder' engraved in the golden frame. "Now to business," Waddles typed directing them to take a seat at the table. "I've called you all here"

"You mean trick us here," Edgar corrected him. As a professional prankster he hates being out tricked.

"Noted, anyway it is because I need your hep." Waddles pressed a button on his hover scooter. At the center of the table a holographic image of a scale appeared. "This is the Scale of Libra. It shows the balance of the universe. As you can see the universe is not in balance. If it continues as such the results will be." Waddles then showed the a holographic image of the Earth exploding. "We;; you get the idea. This is y I have selected you to aid me in restoring the balance." Waddles explained.

The kids all started looking at each confusingly, trying to comprehend what Waddles had just told them. "Um excuse me Mr. Pig, but why us?" Riley finally asked what everyone was thinking.

"Because you all have set skills and abilities that I believe will benefit our cause." Waddles replied. "And my name is Waddles."

"But why us? Why not some of the superheroes or some professionals or something?" Ingrid reiterated.

"As much as I would like to have superheroes for this task, there are certain rules that need to be followed. To violate those rules will result in catastrophe." Waddles explained. The kids again started glancing at each other with uncertainty. Not sure how to process all they have learned.

"So are we get paid for this?" Todd asked bluntly.

"Really," Riley ridiculed.

"Hey if this job is dangerous I want some compensation. Don't judge me!" Todd pouted.

"To answer your question, yes. You will be receiving regular wage on the first and third Friday of the month, plus hazard pay depending on the danger level of the mission. All of which will be deposited into special college accounts I set up for each of you." Waddles informed them.

"College? That's lame." Todd griped. He was hoping to get some extra spending money now.

"Any other questions?" Waddles asked.

They all took a minute before asking. "Can we have some time to think about all this?" they all requested.

"Of course, this is why I scheduled us the whole weekend. So please take your time. Your badges serve as automatic keys that will allow you access to your quarters and other facilities around the base. Except for the restricted parts." Waddles typed.

"Excuse me but I was promised a huge buffet," Biffy said.

"The mess deck is right around the hall. I'm sure it will satisfy your appetite." Waddles assured him.

"I don't know, I can pack away a lot." Biffy boasted patting his stomach.

"And I'm a pig, what's your point?" Waddles counters.

"Huh I honestly have no idea how to respond to that." Biffy conceding defeat. As all the kids departed Waddles turned on his security cameras to see how the kids were handling everything. As expected they were all looking confused, nervous, and most of all scared. Perfectly natural response all things considering. Still this is cause for concern. Waddles can't help but worry that some, maybe all of them might refuse to join him. Even though every fiber of his being was telling him to keep an eye on his recruits; to try and carefully manipulate them into joining his team. Waddles decided that this course of action could prove counter productive. If his new team is to trust him, then he will need to trust them as well. Turning off his monitors, Waddles jumped into his waller for a little mud nap. Putting blind faith that they all will do the right thing.

* * *

Somewhere down the hall Fillmore and Ingrid were investigating the rooms. "So what exactly are we looking for?" Ingrid asked.

"Clues, anything that can help us figure out what that pigs game is." Fillmore said.

"You don't think that it's just to recruit us for this job?" Ingrid asked.

"I think that he's not telling us everything, and that makes him trouble in my book." Fillmore replied sounding almost paranoid. Which is normal for him.

"So you think we can't trust him?" Ingrid wondered.

"Not sure, never had to read a pig before, but it's always better to error on the side of caution." Fillmore preached. After examining the gym and the library, the duo continued to the next room. Placing their pig badges on the scanner, only to receive an 'Access Denied' notice. "Now what could the little piggy be hiding in there?" Fillmore wondered.

"Fillmore, Waddles did say that some rooms were restricted, and we are guests so maybe we shouldn't." Ingrid reminded him.

"You're right, I can't just breaking in on a hunch. Especially without probable cause or a search warrant." Fillmore agreed. As suspicious as he is about Waddles, he is still an Officer of the Law, and as such he needs to follow protocol. "Let's check the other rooms hopefully we won't find anything suspicious," Fillmore accidentally slipped. Telling Ingrid that he's seriously considering Waddles's offer.

* * *

"Did you hear that Brother?" Ellen grinned looking at the restricted door that Fillmore tried to enter.

"Ooh a room that we're not suppose to be in," Edgar chuckled.

"You might as well put out a welcome mat for us," Ellen joked. "Can you get us inside?"

"Please, there's not a lock in this universe or the next that I can't pick." Edgar boasted as he rummage through his satchel. Pulling out several electronic gizmos that he cobbled together from junk, he began fiddling with the locking mechanism of the door. After about 5 minutes of tinkering Edgar manage to open the door. Inside they found lab with incredible equipment. "Is that...yes it is. A particle accelerator! Antimatter generator! And a quantum centrifuge!" Edgar hugging the devices. Overjoyed to see machinery that haven't been invented yet.

"Boys and their toys," Ellen yawned. This tech stuff really isn't her forte until she noticed what's at the other side of the room. "Are those...radioactive isotopes, retro viruses, mutagen, chemicals X, Y, and Z!" Ellen squealed. "Can you imagine the beautiful garden I can grow with all this plant food."

"I'm trying really hard not to," Edgar shuttered. Closing his eyes, desperate to go to his happy place where there are no killer mutant plants.

"Maybe this place won't be so bad," Ellen considered with Edgar nodding in agreement.

* * *

Over at the library in the computer section, Todd was busy putting his evil scheme to action. "What are you doing?" Riley demanded recognizing that evil look in his face when he's up to something. Something that usually gets both of them into trouble.

"Nothing," Todd insisted quickly erasing what he was doing on the computer.

"Let's see your nothing," Riley said checking the computer. On the screen she only found the website for the new upcoming Game Cone XD that Todd has been drooling about since it was first announced.

"You see it's nothing," Todd said putting on his innocent face that always just makes him look more guilty.

"I guess I was mistaken," Riley apologized pretending to feel bad about doubting her brother. "If I didn't know how to check your computer history," Riley said punching up the record of everything Todd has been doing on the computer. "What is this?" Riley demanded. Showing her brother as site with numbers, charts, and a whole lot of $$$.

"Um my math homework," Todd lied.

"Looks more like the special account that Waddles set up for you." Riley accused.

"So I was arranging to have some of the money transferred over to my private checking account." Todd confessed. "What's the big deal, it's going to be my money and it's not like I'm planning on going to college anyway. Don't judge me!"

"That's not the point," Riley groaned. "And how did you even get an account? You're too young. Even I don't have one."

"Technically dad set it up for me when he was having trouble checking his account online and asked me to help him." Todd grinned as he recalled how he used his father's authorization to open his own private account.

"Oh you are in so much trouble when we get back and... Wait, does this mean you're going to be accepting the job?" Riley said in shock.

* * *

Zim was just strolling down the hall when Dib confronted him. "Aha caught you alien!" Dib said in triumphant.

"Yes, yes, you caught me. But caught me doing what?" Zim challenged.

"I caught you...doing...um...doing your evil alien...things." Dib stuttered tripping over his own words again.

"Yes that must be quite an accomplishment for you," Zim mocked.

"Laugh while you can because when I join Waddles little team I will finally have the resources to take you down. HA!" Dib laughed.

"Oh yeah, well when I join this little piggy club, I ZIM will have all the resources I need to conquer Earth. So double HA!" Zim snickered.

"Ha, why would Waddles recruit an alien invader like you? He's creating this team to save the Earth not conquer it." Dib pointed out.

"Then why would he send me an invite and this adorable piggy badge?" Zim countered.

"He didn't send you that! You stole that from me!" Dib screamed.

"Details, the fact is I'm here now, and I will protect the Earth so that I can conquer it." Zim spouting his twisted logic.

"Over my dead body," Dip said.

"That can be arranged," Zim smiled.

* * *

Over at the mess hall Biffy and Lee were enjoying their meal. Apparently the kitchen is equipped with food synthesizer that can make anything they want. "Man leave it to a pig to make a kitchen were a guy can pig out." Biffy joked eating his fifth burger.

"Wow that was terrible. Are getting Holger to write your jokes now?" Lee teased.

"Hey even I'm not that desperate," Biffy feeling a bit offended of being compared to Holger.

"So what do you think about Waddles?" Lee asked.

"Seeing as how I just met the guy, I mean pig, I can't really make any judgment calls." Biffy shrugged. Surprising Lee since Biffy usually is an excellent judge of character. Guess his sixth sense doesn't work on pigs. "But all I can say is, if someone feeds me this good then he can't be all bad." Biffy said getting another serving. Lee was already starting to feel full just by watching Biffy eat.

Also in the mess decks, Dipper and Pacifica. Naturally Pacifica ordered a fancy French dinner with names of foods that no one can pronounce. Dipper wanted to order a pizza but what he got instead... "Yuck what is this stuff," Dipper gagged seeing a plate full of green mush.

"I believe that is spinach," Pacifica identified.

"Spinach? But I ordered pizza. The meaty kind with no vegetation." Dipper complained. The computer informed him that this is a special diet that Waddles programmed just for him. "Special diet? Who does he think I am, Popeye?" Dipper grumbled.

"What's a pop eye?" Pacifica asked.

"Are you kidding? Popeye is one of the greatest sailors of all time. Said to be one of the strongest men to ever live and the only one, other than Sinbad, to sail the seven seas. They say the secret to his success was his constant diet of spinach that gave him super human strength." Dipper said with great admiration.

Pacifica couldn't help but smile in amusement at how Dipper gets when talking about his heroes. Knowing how much he wishes to be like them. "Well maybe you can also be 'Strong to the finish, if you eat your spinach' as well." Pacifica playfully sang while squinting her left eye. Showing that she's not as ignorant about Popeye as she pretended to be.

"Oh yeah. 'Well I yams what I yams, and what I yams not is a salty sailor'." Dipper laughed squinting his eye as well. Dipper and Pacifica were caught up in their little game that they unknowingly scooped up a spoonful of spinach and ate it.

"Blech," the two gagged as the taste of spinach registered on their tongue.

"I can't believe I just ate that," Pacifica said wiping her mouth with her napkin. With Dipper scrubbing his tongue with his spoon.

"Oh man you two are just adorable," Biffy laughed as he took a seat next to them. "So let me guess, you're some prissy rich girl and your some nerd who lost a bet and now has to work for her for the rest of your life." Biffy figured.

"No actually he's my boyfriend," Pacifica hissed. "And let me guess, you're the big muscle bound oaf who threatens that nerd over there to do your homework?" Pacifica said pointing to Lee.

"Hey," Lee objected to being called a nerd. Even though technically he is one.

"Hold up sister for one don't let these muscles fool you. I do my own homework. I'm actually one of the smartest guys in my school. Maybe not as smart as him." Biffy pointing to Lee. "But his mom is a teacher. Second, sorry if I offended you with my assumptions." Biffy apologized.

"Well that's what you get for perpetuating a stereotype," Pacifica lectured. Trying to sound tough but it was clear that she was being enamored by the sight of his muscles. Much to Dipper's annoyance.

"Yeah my bad, but seriously he's you boyfriend?" Biffy pointing to Dipper.

"Yes, yes I am!" Dipper snapped. Upset not only by that insult, but also because he was feeling inferior to a guy who has both brains and brawn. Which is only made worse by the fact that Pacifica is fawning over the guy. Almost reminding him how Mabel gets every time she sees a pretty face. Not that he'll ever tell Pacifica that.

"Whoa, take it easy there champ, I'm in the same boat as you." Biffy pulling out his phone and showing a picture of Kimmie McAdams. "This is my girl."

"Wow, she's even more of a stereotype than you Pacifica," Dipper noted not noticing the angry glares he was getting from both Biffy and Pacifica.

"Wait a second, I know this girl." Pacifica racking her brain. "Yes, I think I've seen her at my family's party."

"You mean the Northwest shindig?" Dipper moaned. He never understood the appeal of those fancy pants parties.

"Hold up you're a Northwest? Kimmie told me how you guys throw the best parties. She was planning on bringing me to the next one." Biffy said.

"Trust me pal, it's not as much fun as you'd think." Dipper warned.

"Yeah I'd figured," Biffy said. "So how did you and little miss prissy hook up?"

"I saved her life and her town from monsters," Dipper bragged.

"Cool," Biffy giving Dipper the thumbs up. "Me and Kimmie were friends ever since we were kids and decided to date despite our social status." Biffy said. "Also I exposed her mom for trying to take over the world with the aid of a thousand year old lizard man."

"Wow I don't know which of those statements is less believable," Dipper laughed.

"Well if you excuse me, I need to powder my nose." Pacifica said getting up. She didn't need to but she could tell that the boys were going to be talking about monsters now and she really didn't want to be around to hear all that.

After Pacifica left Dipper turned to Biffy. "Uh Biffy was it? Um, I have this friend who was really smart and"

"And your 'Friend' wants to know how he can have both smarts and muscles?" Biffy using air quotes and anticipating what Dipper was going to ask.

"So, how should he go about it?" Dipper asked nervously.

"Well for starters," Biffy grabbed Dipper's badge and used it to get more spinach. "He should eat his spinach," Biffy laughed dumping the additional spinach on Dipper's plate.

"Really should have seen that coming," Dipper sulked as he started munching on the legendary green leaves.

* * *

Later at Waddles's office. "Waddles. Waddles. Waddles wake up." a mysterious voice called out to him.

" _Wha, I'm up."_ Waddles yawned. Wiping the mud from his eyes. Since he just got up his vision is still a bit blurry.

"I just wanted to let you know that I don't think we'll be joining your team."


	4. The trouble with Acronyms

Two individuals walked down the corridor to Waddles's office. "Are you sure about this?" One of them asked. "I mean this is the sort of thing that you always wanted to do."

"I know but something doesn't feel right," the other sighed.

As they entered Waddles's office they found the pig sleeping in a mud fountain. "Aw if that wasn't so disgusting it would almost be cute," one of them commented.

"Focus," the other advised. "Waddles. Waddles. Waddles wake up." They called out to him.

" _Wha, I'm up."_ Waddles yawned. Wiping the mud from his eyes. Since he just got up his vision is still a bit blurry.

"I just wanted to let you know that I don't think we'll be joining your team."

That got Waddles attention as he is now fully awake. _"Oh I'm so sorry to hear that, Dipper."_ Waddles telepathically thought. As he got out of his waller these mechanical arms came out and started washing the mud off of the little piggy. _"I don't suppose there is a way for me to convince you to stay?"_ Waddles wondered as he made his way to his scooter. Dipper's silence was all the answer he needed. "Pity, I was so looking forward to working with you again." Waddles typed.

"Hey, can still work together back at Piedmont." Dipper suggested.

"I'm sorry but my work is very important. So no one outside this orhanizarion is allowed to know about me." Waddles typed.

"Not even Mabel?" Dipper asked suspiciously.

"Especially not Mabel!" Even though Waddles typed it and the volume on scooter's speakers were consistent, both Dipper and Pacifica felt that they could hear him yelling in their ears.

"You really don't want Mabel knowing about the truth about you, do you? That's why you wanted to recruit Pacifica instead. Despite knowing that my sister, you're owner, is my perfect partner!" Dipper accused. Waddles didn't even bother to deny it and simply scootered away.

"What's going on here?" Marco asked stepping out of the medical office conveniently located next to Waddles's office. Marco spent the entire day there trying to sleep off his motion sickness. He would have felt a lot better a lot sooner if not for Janna who was playing zombie nurse maid at the time; reaffirming Marco's belief that she's the cause of his discomfort and not the train.

* * *

News of Dipper and Pacifica's decision to leave spread across the base and everyone gathered at the train station to give their farewells. "Are you sure you want to go?" Riley pleading Pacifica not to leave. Mainly because it seems that Pacifica is the only girl in this clubhouse she can get along with. Not to be rude or anything but Janna, Ellen, and Ingrid kind of creep her out, and she's friends a girl who used dress as an anime character.

"Sorry Riley, but this gig isn't for us." Pacifica apologized. Even though they barely had a chance to get to know one another; Pacifica actually kind of liked her.

"So I guess this is it," Dipper sighed.

"Isn't there any way I can convince you to stay?" Waddles typed.

"No Waddles," Dipper said for the umpteenth time.

"Well"

"I won't tell Mabel about your hobbies," Dipper promises.

"Then I guess all that's left is finding your repkments," Waddles typed.

"Wha? Oh you mean replacements," Todd snapping his fingers. "I got this," Todd pressing the hidden 'F' button on his cell phone.

 _"Hello Fleemco."_

"Conrad, we need a replacement." Todd said with a hint of nostalgia. After spending months of doing replacements, it feels like old times making the request.

 _"Really? I thought you and Riley outgrew this sort of thing."_ Conrad said.

"Come Uncle, for old times sake," Todd pleaded.

 _"Fine,"_ Conrad groaned. Todd gave Conrad the details of what they needed.

* * *

Somewhere in some city the Fleemco replacement worker approached these two young boys and made them an offer.

* * *

Back at PHQ the Fleemco delivery truck somehow arrived and dropped the two boys off. "Huh, I knew the Fleemco replacement program was effective but I'd neber expected them to be able to make a replacement here." Waddles typed. Clearly impressed.

"Yeah, we made some upgrades." Todd boasted.

"So who are they?" Everyone wondered.

"I'm sorry these two are Gage Allen and Chris Savon." (OCs created Keeper of Worlds. I know this seems strange but I promised to put the OC characters in this story.) "Tow psychic ghost chasers." Waddles typed.

"Excuse me, but he's the psychic I'm just the sidekick." Chris clarified.

"Hey man don't sell yourself short. I wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for you." Gage said.

"If you say so," Chris said feeling unconvinced. While Chris is convinced that Gage's power is the real deal, he wasn't sure if he actually helps fighting ghosts. Since all he has are his fists, but Gaga insists that Chris has helped him even if he couldn't see it.

"Well since you are here, I guess we shoild get stared on your orientation." Waddles typed.

"Actually we've already been brought up to speed," Chris informed them. Thanks to the power of plot convenience.

"And we're in. So long you help us stop Sin." Gage setting conditions.

"Yes that cult is one of the targets we will be dealing with." Waddles assured them. "But only when I say so." Gage and Chris were about to object when Waddles continued. "Conflicting agendas will only lead to chaos and failure. So you're going to have to trust me. We are going after Sin but not at the expense of other missions understand." Waddles typed.

"Understood," Gage and Chris said doing a mock salute.

"Very well," Waddles nodded. "Dipper, Pacifica, please give them your badges." Dipper and Pacifica handed Gage and Chris their badges. "Good. Now is there anyone else who want out?" Waddles asked.

"Actually we all decided to see where this is going." The other kids replied.

"Then welcome to the **W** orlds **A** gency **D** epartment for **D** imensional **L** aw **E** nforcement **S** ervices." Waddles proclaim. "What?" He wondered after noticing the cold stares everyone was giving him.

"Are you serious: W-A-D-D-L-E-S. Can you be any more conceited?" Ingrid pointed out.

"Yeah even Zim is not that egotistical," Dib laughed.

"Hey I am too so egotistical. Even more so!" Zim insisted not realizing what egotistical means.

Waddles looked over the name of his organization. "Huh, you'd think that someone with a 10th dimensional brain would have noticed something like that." Waddles mused. Leaving the others to wonder if he's a glory hog or a humble pig who's a victim of circumstance. "Oh before I forget," Waddles pressed some buttons on his scooter, causing the eyes on the badges to flash green for a second.

"What was that?" They all demanded.

"I simply unlocked all my restricted rooms for you all. Now that your all agents there is no reason to keep you out of your workspace." Waddles explained. "Which of course means that Edgar and Ellen no longer need to hide that which they 'borrowed' from the lab."

Everyone stared accusingly at the twins as several pieces of technology and chemicals fell out of their stripped pajamas. "Oh man he's just going to let us use this stuff," Edgar pouted.

"Yeah it's no fun stealing if he's just going to give it to us," Ellen complained. At this point the others were starting to wonder why the twins were recruited in the first place.

"Looks your ride is here," Waddles informed them as he pressed the remote control for the train. Dipper and Pacifica gave their farewells to everyone again before going in. "And this is for you," Waddles pressed another button and printed out a sheet of paper and handed it to Dipper.

"What's this?" Dipper asked.

"An address to a mystery house. Not only does the winner win a huge cash prize but they get a lot of prestige." Waddles typed.

"Thanks maybe we'll look into it," Dipper said skeptically. Not really sure if he can trust the little piggy.

As the train pulled out of the station, a loud alarm went off. "What's that noise?" The kids asked.

"Mission alert," Waddles answered.

"So we got a job?" They asked.

"No, we got four!" Waddles turned to his new agents. "Alright it's time to get to work."

* * *

Meanwhile in another place, another time, another reality. A group of sinister shadows were gathering in a huge hall very similar to the one the **D.I.C.S.** had only several seats were empty. At the center was a large malevolent shadow overseeing this meeting. "I call this meeting of the Nefarious Infinite Coalition of Evil to order and thanks to all, or at the very least those of you who are here, for coming." The Overseer sneered.

"Forget the pleasantries why have you summoned us?" One of the shadows demanded.

"Because of this," the Overseer directed their attention to the large digital display on Hd screen at the top the hall. The bad guys always gets the good stuff.

"The balance has shifted!" The shadow members muttered.

"Indeed and never before has it shifted so far into the side of light. So any ideas of how we can restore the balance?" The Overseer requested.

"Let's send a zombie plague!"

"Why send zombies when I can use my skeleton bandidos to take over the world!"

"No open the gates to the underworld!"

"Let's drop another meteorite on the earth again!"

"Get those foolish fanatics to do more terrorist attacks!"

"Friends, friends, why do we always do the same thing?" a voice calmly said a mist the loud shouting, and yet it still bought the crowd to silence.

"What do you mean?"

"Every time the universe goes out of balance, we either cause some natural disaster or set up some tyrant to create sufferings to the unsuspecting fools. Then when the balance shifts the order of light creates a hero to put everything all nice and peaceful again until the next shift. Every time the same old thing."

"So what do you suggest?"

"Never before has the scale has tipped so far in to the side of light. Which as you know means that the universe will favor us. We should use this opportunity to build our forces; reclaiming lost items of power, corrupting the young, gathering allies."

"And do you plan to do with all that scheming?"

"A legitimate question deserves a legitimate answer. Once we build up our power, then just before the scale tips to the side of dark, we will strike and destroy the protectors of light!"

"You mean attack **D.I.C.S.** directly?"

"That's never been done."

"They're too powerful!"

"Which is exactly why need to use this opportunity. So long as the scale is on the side of light **D.I.C.S.** is prohibited from using their big guns against us. Not to mention that karma and luck will be on our side so we can't lose."

"Yes we will crush those **D.i.C.S.** with the power of **N.I.C.E.** " the entire hall began to laugh maniacally.

"Ehem, not to be a wet blanket or anything but does anyone else notice how ridiculously ironic our acronyms are?"

* * *

 **A/N: Well now that the setup is all out of the way we can get into our main plot. Just to clarify a few things, when the universe is out of balance it will do whatever it can to go back into balance. Its main method is to alter probability. Things like karma and luck are the universe's way of restoring the balance. This is why sometimes bad people are hit with karma and other times they seem to have nothing but luck. The forces of both good and evil are aware of this and try to use it to their advantage.**

 **Anyway I'm setting up a new poll of which adventure you'd want to read first:**

 **Return of the Queen: Gage, Chris, Edgar and Ellen are sent to San Francisco to prevent Jade from becoming the Queen of the Shadowkhan again. Or help her. Whichever seems like the most fun.**

 **Ruby Rockstar: Dib, Zim, Fillmore and Ingrid head to Miracle City to aid El Tigre with a personal problem that threatens to tear the city and his relationships apart.**

 **Garden of Fire: Lee, Biffy,** **Todd and Riley try to hunt down an arsonist burning down buildings with Shen Gong Wu, only to find that they have history with this criminal.**

 **Mansion of Mystery: Marco and Janna are sent to assist Dipper and Pacifica with the mystery game, which has a bigger mystery than they ever suspected. (Yes folks, even though Dipper and Pacifica are out of the team that does not mean they are out of the story)**

 **Please vote or review or both.**


	5. Garden of Fire

**A/N: The characters Nyx and Ying are not mine. They were created by nightmaster000 with some creative liberties taken.**

Somewhere beyond what most scientist would call normal space, beyond what most science fiction writers would call dimensional space, beyond what most madmen would call other space, beyond what most kids would call imaginary space; lies the citadel of the **N** efarious **I** nfinite **C** oalition of **E** vil or **N.I.C.E.** The members of which are made up of some of the most vile and powerful villains in the known multiverse, and right now six of them had gathered together for some dark purpose. "Are we ready my friends?" one shadow asked in a gentlemanly manner.

"We are not friends, but we're with you for now." two shadows hissed.

"So long as you don't threatened my interests," another shadow said strumming a guitar.

"This should be fun," this small shadow laughed.

"I find your proposal intriguing, so I'm in. If only to see how it turns out." the last figure said in a similar dignified manner as the first.

"Then let the party begin," the first shadow announced. The sixth shadow pulled out a pair of scissors and made four slits in space. the slits then opened up into four portals. "Now go and make us some new friends!" With that his cohorts jumped into the respective portals.

* * *

On the roof tops on some random buildings, a young girl in her mid-teens with light purple hair in twin pigtails, wearing black shirt with torn sleeves, purple stockings, and black boots. She was happily doing cartwheels on the railing over the sides of the roof. Laughing whenever she started teetering over the edge. As if she was daring death to take her. Over to the side a small black and grey bird with a few red feathers watched disapprovingly. "Are we done here Nyx?" the bird asked impatiently.

"Almost Wingy, just waiting for the clock to run out." the girl named Nyx smiled as she cartwheeled over to Wingy and sat down next to him.

"Nyx we've been over this. Don't call me Wingy, my name is Ying!" Wingy, I mean, Ying, the infamous son of the vile Ying-Ying bird complained.

"Aw but Wingy is so much more cuter," Nyx teased tickling under Ying's beak. "Oh it's time," Nyx said excitedly watching the buildings across the street to the one they were on. Suddenly the roofs of those buildings exploded into an inferno of fire with flames spewing out from the windows on the top floors. "Isn't it beautiful, they almost look like giant roses." Nyx said admiring her handy work.

"You know it would look a lot better if instead of these old condemned buildings you planted your 'roses' over in the newer ones." Ying said directing her attention to some new occupied apartments.

"Those buildings?" Nyx gulped. "You know I can't."

"Why not?" Ying asked, even though he knows that she's going to give him the same lame excuse that she always does.

"Well for one thing it took me a over week to set all this up. You know placing the charges, redirecting gas lines, timing everything so that my roses bloom at the same time. I don't think I can do that discretely with all these people around." While it's true that Nyx is a bit of a pyro-fanatic, and don't really care all that much about people in general (which is why her only friend is a talking bird) she can't bring herself to actually hurt anyone. Which is why she only burns down condemn or abandoned buildings. Nyx has always had a fascination for fire, ever since watching the movie Jungle Book where King Louie called fire the red flower. Since then she started thinking of fire as beautiful roses. Roses because they're the only flowers that she knows of that are red. The bigger the fire the more beautiful they seem, for what she likes to calls her 'garden of fire'.

"If you ask me you just don't have the guts," Ying challenged.

The two met years ago when Nyx lived in an old run down orphanage. Ying was just flying around minding his own business when a pair of mischievous boys were playing with their homemade slingshots and shot him out of the air. Nyx found him and tended to his wounds, naming him Wingy. During this time the two became very close, not because Ying was grateful or anything, but because he could sense a darkness within her. An evil that he wanted to nurture and develop. The first step was convincing her to not only run away from the orphanage, which she wanted to do anyway, but to rob it as well. The money they took from the caretakers was enough for them to get started on their journey. Since then they proceeded to rob and vandalize several places. Now Ying is trying to get her to move to the next step of being evil, by having her attack and maybe even kill people.

"No I just want to be cautious," Nyx said hesitantly.

"Or maybe you just need the right tools for the job," a new voice said.

"Who's there?" they both demanded looking around but seeing nobody.

"Over here," the voice said. The two looked around but could see no one. "No no here. To far. A little to the left. Now right." the voice directed them. Soon they found themselves staring at what best could be described as an angry looking tiny potato.

"Lord Hannibal Roy Bean!" Ying gasped bowing respectfully.

"You know this ugly potato?" Nyx asked.

"Show some respect. Hannibal Bean is one of the greatest evil masters of all time." Ying whispered to her.

"That's right and I have an offer for you," Hannibal smiled.

"You're not planning on giving her the Lao Mang Lone Soup?" Ying yelped.

"What? No, now why would you ever think that?" Hannibal putting up a ridiculously fake innocent routine.

"Oh because of all the things my father told me about you." Ying accused.

"Yeah your poppa was my favorite minion. Loyal, trustworthy, unlike my other allies. Which by the way is the reason I don't give the soup recipe to anyone anymore." Hannibal griped.

"What's this Lao Tang soup?" Nyx asked.

"You don't want to know, and if you value your soul, you shouldn't drink it." Ying warned. As much as he wants Nyx to be evil he would never resort to using that magic potion.

"Like I said I'm not here for that, but rather to help you with your endeavors. Have you heard of the Shen Gong Wu?" Hannibal asked. Nyx crooked her eye curiously while Ying started cringing with worry.

* * *

Meanwhile in the down in the city's subway station, a mysterious train that wasn't even on schedule came rolling down the track. As the train pulled up to the station 4 youths exited, the replacement duo Todd and his sister Riley, along with Detentionaires Lee and Biffy. "Alright let's go over the details of the mission that boss pig sent us." Riley suggested.

"I believe his name is Waddles," Biffy reminded her. As an animal lover he makes it a point to learn their names.

"Whatever," Riley shrugged as she brought out the computer that Waddles had provided for her which contains all the information about the case including a map of the area they were heading to. "Now according to this our arsonist likes to play in this general area," Riley showing them the map.

"Ugh that is a waste of time, let's just find fire starter," Todd complained.

"And where pray tell where should we start?" Riley asked her brother.

"Um well..." Todd stuttered.

"From personal experience, I'd say we should start looking for clues at the crime scenes." Lee suggested.

"I-I was just about to say that!" Todd insisted rather unconvincingly.

"Then I guess it's a good thing I happen to have a map showing all the crime scenes." Riley said with a smug attitude. Rubbing it in her brother's face.

"Ooh burn," Biffy laughed. The group made their way to the latest buildings that Nyx and Ying burned down. Unfortunately the police still had the place taped off with a couple of officers on guard. "Great so now what do we do?" Biffy asked.

"What we do best," Riley said pressing the (F) button on her cell phone. _'Hello Fleemco,'_ The voice on the phone answered. "We need a replacement," Riley requested. A few minutes later the Fleemco truck arrived and the drivers had a small discussion with the police officers in charge. The police started looking very excited for some reason before jumping in the truck and drove off. A few seconds later another Fleemco truck pulled up and some new police officers were dropped off at the building. "Okay let's go," Riley said heading for the building.

"Um am I missing something?" Lee asked. Todd and Riley just laughed as they walked up to the replacement police officers.

"Officers can we go in?" Riley asked politely.

"Of course dear," one of the officers greeted.

"Let me get that for you," the other said opening the door. Allowing the teens in.

"Okay what just happened?" Lee demanded.

"I replaced the two police officers with doormen who would let anybody in," Riley explained.

"Yeah, it's kind of like our superpower," Todd boasted. The two then gave a brief explanation about the Fleemco's Replacement Program and their role in it.

"That's a neat trick," Biffy complimented. "Say I don't suppose, you know if it's not too much trouble..."

"No we're not replacing any of your teachers," Riley interjected anticipating what he was going to ask.

"Aw please. I have a big math test coming up." Biffy pleaded.

"Sorry big guy, but take it from someone who been there and done that, replacing teachers never works out." Todd confessed.

"That's for sure, we've replace more teachers than actual teachers we have in our school. It never turns out well." Riley added.

"That's a bummer," Biffy pouted.

The four of them began investigating the wreckage and soon gathered to compare notes. "Okay what you got so far?" Lee asked.

"Well judging by the scorch marks on the walls, I'd say that whoever did this was using the gas from the old heating lines to not only start the fire but also feed the flames." Riley reported.

"And thanks to our dad being a professional daredevil I can tell that the explosives used to set off the fire were a compound of phosphate and sulfur." Todd tasting the ashes on the floor and walls. "In other words, they're run of the mill firecrackers you can get in every corner drug store." Todd added sadly, knowing that his lead is a dead end.

"Well I don't know if this is important, but I think whoever this person is considers themselves an artist." Biffy said.

"Why do you say that?" Lee asked.

"Look man I enjoy random destruction as much as the next homicidal guy, but whoever did this took a lot of time preparing it. I know that most of the evidence was destroyed in the fire, but from what I could tell many of the gas lines were redirected." Biffy showing them the alignment of some of the pipes that were still mostly intact. "Now I'm no pyrotechnics expert, but it almost seem like they're trying to make some kind of big flaming display the kind you see at amusement parks. Wish I could have seen it." Biffy praising the craftsmanship.

"So whoever this is isn't just destroying buildings at random, they must be selecting them the same way a sculptor chooses the perfect stone to carve." Lee deduces.

"And how does that help us find the fiend?" Todd asked.

"Well if our suspect has a pattern then we can probably guess what her next targets would most likely be." Riley said typing the data into the computer. "Here I found three possible targets," Riley showing them the map with three buildings highlighted. The buildings were spaced out within a four block radius from where they were right now.

"Alright it looks like we're going to have to split up," Lee decided.

"Wait," Biffy called out to them as they were about to leave. "We better synchronize first," Biffy suggested holding up his phone. The others held up their phones as well, allowing Biffy to link them up. "Alright looks like we're all set," Biffy said after double checking the link.

"Be careful and check in every ten minutes," Lee instructed.

* * *

Meanwhile in another part of the city, Nyx sat on a lonely roof staring at the 'gift' that Hannibal gave her. Which she's skeptical that it has magical powers, she's still a bit hesitant about actually using it. Especially since the tiny bean wants her to use it to burn building. Make no mistake, Nyx loves burning things, but only under her term not anyone else's. "Having second thoughts?" Ying asked breaking her train of thought.

"I never had any first thoughts to begin with," Nyx joked.

"So are we doing this?" Ying asked.

"Sure but only as an experiment," Nyx said. Holding the Shen Gong Wu over her head she yells, "Changing Chopstick!" Evoking its power. Nyx shrank to the size of a grain of rice. She then jumped onto Ying's back and the two flew off. "Whoa this is so cool! I might just keep these things just for the ride." Nyx laughed.

"Don't get too used to it. Unlike my father I don't like being someone's personal mule." Ying griped. The two flew over to another building, and thanks to the Changing Chopsticks along with Ying providing a distraction, Nyx was able to sneak in unnoticed. Nyx had to admit that while she did think that shrinking is a lame superpower, it's proving to be very useful. Plus her shrunken state hasn't done anything to diminish her physical strength so she's able to turn handle wheels and pull levers with no problems. So what normally would have taken hours even under the best of conditions, she did in a matter of minutes. Or at least it would have if Nyx wasn't taking her sweet time enjoying her shrunken state to turn the building into her own private jungle gym. Swinging on wires, sliding down handrails, tripping mouse traps to catapult her into the air, and stuff like that.

After she had her fun, and getting annoyed with Ying's constantly nagging, Nyx finished setting up her first 'flower arrangement' in an occupied apartment building. The two then flew to the roof of the building across the street and waited for the fireworks to begin. Well Ying did since he knows that Nyx normally sets the buildings to explode about an hour after they finish. What he didn't know that while normally she would have prepared a time delay fuse, she's still isn't sure if she wants to go through with this, so she's using a remote detonator she stole from Radio Shack instead. Nyx tightly grasped the remote still debating whether or not to actually do it. "Looks like this one's a bust. Let's try the next building." Both Nyx and Ying quickly turn to see two kids snooping around. "Hey what are you doing here?" Todd demanded.

"Uh I live here," Nyx lied. "What's your excuse?" Nyx couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something familiar about these two.

"Um we're..." Riley trying to come up with something when she noticed the bird perched on the girl's shoulder. "Is that Wingy?"

"How do you know him?" Nyx demanded.

"If that's Wingy then you must be...Nicky? Nicky, is that you? Love the new look." Riley remembering her old friend from the orphanage.

"Brother and sister with orange hair...Riley? Todd?" Nyx gasped. "Oh and it's Nyx now. I hate the name Nicky."

"Now you know how I feel, Nicky." Ying chuckled into her ear. Nyx grabbed Ying by the beak to shut him up.

"Who's Nicky?" Todd asked.

"You remember the girl from the orphanage. The one who always shared her secret stash of comics with us." Riley trying to jog her brother's memory with no success. "The one with the pet bird you wanted to roast for Thanksgiving."

"Oh right," Todd slapping his head. "Hey there buddy. You remember your old buddy Todd. No hard feelings." Todd said to Ying.

"Bwaak Todd's an idiot. Todd's an idiot. Bwaak." Ying squawked pretending to be a parrot. While he is capable of full speech he's only revealed this to Nyx. To everyone else he just pretends to be a normal bird.

"Yup he remembers you," Riley laughed.

"Now I remember why I wanted to cook him," Todd grumbled.

"So what brings you guys to my neck of the woods?" Nyx asked suspiciously.

"Oh we're..." again Riley trying to come up with a good cover story.

"We're investigating the fires that's been happening around here," Todd blurted out.

"Todd that's top secret," Riley whispered to her brother.

"Oh lighten up sis. This is Nicky, you know the one person in the orphanage that we could always count on. Maybe she can help out." Todd defending Nyx's character.

"Investigating huh, I guess a lot has happen to you since you got 'Adopted'." Nyx suspiciously using air quotes.

"Oh yeah, I guess you can say that." Riley chuckled nervously.

"And I guess that your secret agent mom is letting you join the family business?" Nyx sneered. At this point every alarm in Riley's head was going off like crazy and while she wanted to give her old friend the benefit of doubt, she didn't want to take any chances. Reaching for her cell phone she hit the speed dial to Lee and Biffy's phones so that they can not only hear what's going on, but they can also trace them.

"Oh yeah, we even got to go to the secret spy school and everything." Todd boasted.

"Wait how do you know about our mom?" Riley asked.

"Oh I know more than that old friends. I know everything about your mail order parents and those special phones!" Nyx snapped.

"How do you know about our phones?" Riley asked. Even Todd is starting to take this seriously.

"How do I know about them? Ha! How can I not? YOU ORDERED THEM FROM MY COMIC!" Nyx spat. Todd and Riley gulped as they recalled how they ordered the Fleemco Phones from a comic ad, which at the time they thought was just a gag gift, but when they actually came the first thing they used them for was to order new parents. "After seeing what they did for you I tried to order my own phones, but all I got was an apology note saying that the phones were discontinued." Nyx sobbed.

"Nicky we're really sorry. We didn't know." Riley tried to apologized.

"Good one sis I think she's buying it," Todd whispered to his sister thinking that this is some kind of ruse.

"Not now," Riley scolding her brother.

"Oh didn't you? A few months later I hear on the news that you two are the long lost heirs of the Fleemco Co. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why you two got phones and I didn't!" Nyx accused.

"In our defense we didn't know about that either," Riley insisted.

"Yeah our uncle kept it a secret from us as well," Todd added.

"Oh you poor things, it must have been painful for compared to the rest of us still stuck at the orphanage with Sister Thornly!" Nyx said sarcastically. Todd and Riley shuttered at the name of the witch that ran the orphanage that they stayed in. "I mean seriously, I've always been there to help and support you guys and as soon as you got the means to leave, you just ditch me!" Nyx cried.

"Look I know that no amount of apologies will ever be enough but if there is something we can do to make it up to you," Riley offered.

"Make it up to me? How about you using those phones of yours and ordering me up some parents as well. Oh wait I'm no longer a hapless orphan so I don't need them anymore." Nyx laughed. "No I'm afraid that it's too late for apologies." Nyx smiled and pulled out a small remote control. "You know I wasn't going to do this but since you were sent here to stop me," Nyx pressed the button and the roof of the adjacent building exploded. Followed by alarms and screams of people still inside. "You know I think this is my most beautiful rose yet," Nyx smiled admiring her work.

"That does look kind of pretty in a demented sort of way," Todd commented.

"Nyx stop this!" Riley demanded.

"Or what?" Nyx challenged.

"Right I'll get back to you on that," Riley said since she didn't really come up with a plan for when they'd actually do if they found the arsonist.

"Let's just kick her butt!" Todd suggested doing a bunch of karate screams and imitating Hollywood martial arts moves. Nyx just laughed as she started using her gymnast like agility to easily dodge his attacks before flipping away.

"Well this has been fun, but I got to be going. Let's catch up again some time." Nyx waved goodbye before opening the door back into the building, but just as she opened the door she found her path obstructed by a large man.

"What's your hurry, we just got here." Biffy grinned as he reached out to her.

Nyx once again flipped out of the way and made a mad dash for the fire escape, only to find Lee already running up them. Seeing that she was surrounded she reached into her pocket. "Changing Chopsticks!" Nyx then shrank down and slipped away.

"Hey where did so go?" Lee asked.

"Why are you asking me?" Todd asked.

"Well she's your friend isn't she," Lee pointed out recalling the conversation he overheard through their phone link.

"Well obviously she couldn't do that before!" Todd pointed out.

"This must be why Waddles sent us here," Riley figured still looking around for Nyx.

* * *

As they were searching for her, Nyx was hiding among the empty cans and newspapers littered all over the roof. Again she had to admit that she underestimated the power of shrinking. It was proving to be more useful than she ever imagined and she's a comic geek. Although in her defense she never liked the shrinking heroes. However just as she was starting to feel safe hiding in the garbage, she overlooked that one tiny detail that other things like garbage as well. Sneaking around she found herself face to face with a giant, or rather normal size cockroaches. "AAAHHH!" she screamed in terror, dropping the Changing Chopsticks, undoing the magic and reverting her back to her normal size.

"There she is!" the agents pointed. Nyx again tried to make another run for it, but Lee making good use of his time running around school, manage to keep up with her and eventually intercepted her just as she was about to jump to the next building over. "It's over," Lee said.

Ying flew to Nyx's side and whispered into her ear, "Nyx use the chopsticks so that I can fly you away."

"Can't, I lost them," Nyx whispered as the other agents arrived. For the first time in since leaving the orphanage she was afraid.

 _'Seems like you two are in a bit of a pickle,'_ Hannibal's voice echoed in their mind.

"Where are you?" Nyx demanded. the agents looked at her like if she was crazy, which in their defense she kind of is.

 _'Don't talk, but if you want be to save you from this predicament, you only need to agree to work for me. But please take your time. I've got plenty, and if your friends get a hold of you, so shall you.'_ Hannibal mused.

"Fine you got a deal you rotten vegetable!" Nyx cursed.

 _'Technically I'm a legume, but I'll over look that little offensive comment just this once.'_ Hannibal laughed.

"Surrender Nicky, you have no where else to go." Riley pleading to her old friend. Then out of nowhere a portal appeared and these strange tentacles came out and grabbed Nyx and Ying pulling them into the portal.

"Oh no they got away," Todd cursed.

"Wait what about the people in the building?" Riley suddenly remembered looking at the building that Nyx just destroyed. Down below, the streets were already busy with firefighters and emergency rescue helping the residence out.

"Whoa how did they get here so fast?" Todd wondered.

"Well while I was on my way here Biffy gave me the wrong address," Lee shot an accusing glare at his friend.

"Just a joke for old time sake," Biffy chuckled.

"Fortunately I noticed that the gas pipes were arranged in the same manner as that one building we examined. So I called fire department. Telling them that everyone in this building was in danger. When that didn't work I just pressed the fire alarm." Lee explained.

"Yeah I just intercepted a police call on my phone, so far everyone got out of the building. Most with only minor injuries and a few second degree burns." Biffy informed them.

"That's good," Riley breathing a sigh of relief.

"But Nyx got away with her evil scheme. That means we botched up our first mission." Todd pouted. The others lowered their heads in shame knowing that he's right.

* * *

Meanwhile up in PHQ Waddles was monitoring his agents activities. "It seems like your plan is working," Rose Quartz said appearing right next to her fellow senator.

 _"Indeed, the forces of darkness are getting their victories thus bringing the universe close to balance; and thanks to my agents, we're able to keep the casualties low."_ Waddles spoke telepathically since, unlike his agents, Rose had no problems with telepathy.

"But I fear for your team. They might not share your enthusiasm on how things turned out." Rose voicing her concerns.

 _"Yes I've anticipated that, and I've already made some preparations."_ Waddles assured her.

"I only hope you know what you're doing," Rose sighed.

 _"You and me both,"_ Waddles replied sadly. Revealing his own insecurities.

* * *

Over at the other side Hannibal Roy Bean, now a 6 ft tall monstrosity, escorted Nyx and Ying down this fancy but gloomy looking hall. "I can't tell you how happy I am that you accepted my proposal." Hannibal laughed.

"Well it wasn't like I had much of a choice, but as long as I can score some payback on my old friends then I'm in." Nyx griped.

"You're in luck, the jobs I have in mind will put you against those two very soon. Just not all the time." Hannibal giving her the heads up.

"Fine by me. By the way, you look a little different. Did you get a new hat?" Nyx joked.

"You could say that," Hannibal mused. "I happen to be wearing my favorite Shen Gong Wu." Hannibal showing her his Moby Morpher. "Speaking of which," Hannibal tossed her the Changing Chopsticks that she dropped. "Try not to lose them again. Shen Gong Wu are very precious." Hannibal warned.

"Thanks," Nyx said putting the chopsticks in her pocket.

Hannibal led her to a golden door. "Well I know you must be tired after all that running around, so I'll leave you two to get some rest." Hannibal opened the door to reveal a large royal style bedroom complete with big screen TV, hot tub, mini-fridge, and a walk in closet filled with different designer clothes that she'd only dreams about.

"You know I think I'm going to like it here," Nyx smiled as she stretched out on her new King size bed before falling asleep. Over to the other side of the room, Ying sighed sadly as he ate the gourmet seed provided. Knowing that even if only half the stories his dad has told him about Hannibal Roy Bean, then he and Nyx are seriously in over their heads.

Speaking of Hannibal, after dropping Nyx off at her room, he made his way back to the **N.I.C.E.** meeting hall where he rejoined his fellow lords of chaos. "Well I brought in my new recruit," he said smugly "How have you guys doing on your end?"


	6. Ruby Rockstar

On the streets of Miracle City two best friends were making their way to school on a Saturday for their weekend detention. As usual the two racked up so much detention time that there wasn't enough school days to carry them out. So Vice Principal Chakal is making them come in on weekends and holidays to serve their time. "I can't believe that Zoe Aves is Black Cuervo," Manny Rivera aka El Tigre muttered for what felt like the hundredth time. Manny and Zoe have been dating for several weeks now. Ever since she was assigned as a tutor to help him with, well every single class he was failing in. Which unsurprisingly is every class he was in. Naturally Manny proved to be a difficult pupil, always ditching her to hang out with Frida. So Zoe challenged his manhood claiming that he's too much of a chicken to take his studies seriously, and as with all Rivera men, Manny's pride won't stand for being called a chicken so he accepted the challenge. Even going so far as agreeing to go on a date with her if she helps him passes his classes. Which he did, so honor demanded that he go on a date her, much to Frida's chagrin. For a time Manny actually enjoyed Zoe's company, since it was one of the few times he didn't have to bother with super heroics or committing crimes, but then he accidentally caught Zoe transforming into Black Cuervo. Since then the two have had a falling out, which Frida is overjoyed about.

"I told you and I told you," Frida gloated for what seemed like the thousandth with a smug attitude.

"Yeah yeah," Manny brushing her off. As they entered the school they were greeted by an unexpected but familiar face, or rather lack there of.

"Hey there Tigre, Frida." a skeleton boy greeted.

"What the? Django of the Dead, what are you doing at school?" Manny asked.

"Oh my Nana brought me. She's inside right now talking to the Vice Principal about enrolling me in school. Something about needing edumacation if I'm to have a place in her criminal organization." Django groaned.

"Phft, like you need any of that smarty stuff to be crime lord." Frida laughed.

"I know right," Django agreed.

"I don't know, that sounds like a good idea." Manny interjected. "I mean like 90% of everyone here in school is going into some kind of career in crime in the future. So it might not be so bad to have a diploma under your belt."

"Ew math," Frida gagged. Showing her contempt for anything resembling education.

"Ha ha, couldn't have said it better myself." Django laughed. As the three shared this friendly moment, little did they know that they were being watched by several pairs of jealous eyes.

* * *

At this moment the Dimensional Train made its way to the city. Bringing with it four rather unsuspecting kids (?). The Safety Patrol team of Fillmore and Ingrid, and Team Weird Heads Dib and Zim. "MY HEAD IS NOT THAT BIG!" Dib protested.

"And I just have a rare skin condition!" Zim insisted.

Ignoring that outburst Fillmore and Ingrid continued on mission. "Okay who would think of building a city at the foot of an active volcano is a good idea?" Ingrid wondered as she watched the volcano erupting.

"I'd say, it's a miracle that the lava hasn't leveled the place yet." Dib commented. Noting how none of the lava spewing from the volcano is even landing on the ground. Making him wonder where all that lava is going? Filing that as his next paranormal mystery to solve at a later date.

"Well I guess this city lives up to its name them. Get it, it's called Miracle City." Zim joked.

"Never mind all that, what's the mission?" Fillmore asked keeping everyone on track.

"Not sure, all Waddles would say is that we need to find the bird and cat; and that we'll know what that means as soon as we arrive." Ingrid said using her photographic memory of the debriefing.

"Bird and cat? What's that suppose to mean?" Fillmore asked himself.

"Hey guys!" Dib pointing to the sky. They all looked up and saw Voltura and Lady Gobbler flying with a big bag of gold and jewels; and running right behind was a man in a white suit and wrestler's mask.

"Halt right there Flock of Fury, minus Cuervo, you can't escape the justice of White Pantera!" Pantera yelled going into his signature pose.

"Ha don't make me laugh. You couldn't even catch a date for prom after I dumped you." Voltura boasted.

"Actually I dumped you and I did have a date. Cleo your best friend." Pantera reminded her.

"AS IF I COULD EVER FORGET!" Voltura ranted. The agents stood there flabbergasted as they watched the battle between a cat themed superhero and bird themed supervillains.

* * *

Later about two hours after the end detention, Vice Principal Chakal added two hours after he found them vandalizing his office again (those two never learn), Frida and Manny were finally allowed to leave school. "Finally we're free!" Frida cheered.

"So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?" Manny asked.

"How about we" Frida didn't get the chance to finish as Zoe Aves aka Black Cuervo swooped down and snatched Manny up and flew off with him. "Aw come on!" Frida cursed.

High above the city, Black Cuervo carried her unwilling but surprisingly compliant hostage across the skies. Normally during this situation Manny would transform into El Tigre but he didn't want to give Zoe/Cuervo the satisfaction. "What do you want Zoe?" Manny asked in a rather annoyed tone. Not so much that he's getting kidnapped, that practically happens at least three times a week, but because he really didn't want to be with his ex-girlfriend for longer than he has to be. Cuervo didn't respond and continued on before dropping him off on some roof. "So why did you bring me here?" Manny asked again.

"Do you remember this place?" Zoe asked sweetly. "It was where we used to meet for our dates."

Manny looked around, and while most rooftops look the same to him, he did recognize it as the place where he and Cuervo had their first battle and where they started dating. "Nope doesn't look familiar at all," Manny lied.

Cuervo sighed sadly as she took off her helmet. "Manny look I know you're upset."

"Upset? Oh I'm way pass upset! I'm down right furious! You've been lying to me this whole time Cuervo!" Manny yelled deliberately trying to avoid looking at her in the eye and using her real name. He hated to admit it, but he still had some feelings for Zoe Aves. Not so much for Black Cuervo though.

"Well technically I never told you I wasn't Black Cuervo so I didn't really lie," Zoe pointed out.

"Yeah you did, every time Frida accused you of being Cuervo you kept denying it. Right in front of my face." Manny countered.

"Oh right," Zoe had to give him that one. "Look Manny can we please go pass this whole Cuervo/Tigre thing and just go back to being Manny and Zoe?" Zoe pleaded trying to cuddle up to him.

Manny peeked at her face and saw her eyes watering, looking almost too cute to resist. "NO!" Manny pushing her away. "Sorry Cuervo but I can't be with someone who lies to me."

"Ha, that's a laugh. I mean Frida lies to you all the time and she's still with you." Zoe argued.

"Well that's different. She's my best friend." Manny tried to justify even though he knew it's a weak argument, that's really the best he could come with.

"Then I guess I was never really your friend. Not even when we were dating." Zoe cried.

"I-uh..." Manny didn't know how to handle this situation. "Maybe I should just go," Manny wanting desperately to leave.

"Alright but can I at least have a proper breakup?" Zoe requested playing her last gambit.

"Uh, a proper breakup?" Manny wondered since he wasn't aware of any protocol but then again he's never dated anyone before.

"You know, we say goodbye on good terms and then give each other a final farewell kiss." Zoe teased.

"Well that sounds kind of screwy to me, but if it keeps you from turning into a psycho stalker like your mom and grandma, then why not." Manny shrugged. Zoe squealed with anticipation as she puckered up her lips. Manny cringed as he braced himself for the deed. Manny only intended to give her a light peck and be done with it, but as soon as his lips made contact his heart skipped a beat and for reasons unknown to him, Manny felt compelled to draw her in closer. Deepening their kiss, to which Zoe was more than happy to oblige as she wrapped her arms around him.

Over at the shadows, a mysterious figure witness the whole thing. Satisfied with the outcome, he left the roof and made his way to a small coffee shop across the street. Where a finely dressed skeleton lady with a golden guitar was waiting patiently. "Is it done?" Sartana of the Dead asked as she sipped her latte.

"Yeah it's done, Match Made!" the figure cheered.

"Excellent," Sartana laughed.

"So are we square?"

"Yes we're even," Sartana assured him handing him a small bag.

"What's this?"

"A small token of appreciation. A dozen deep fried churros covered in chocolate frosting." Sartana answered.

"Sweet! Say I got a gig coming in Tijuana up next week. Are you available?"

"I'll clear my schedule," Sartana promised.

* * *

Back around school grounds, Frida was pacing back and forth waiting for her best friend to return. "What's taking him so long? I mean it's only Cuervo. Manny should have been able to take care of her in like five minutes." Frida ranted. Hidden away a pair of eager admirers have been waiting for a chance to talk to Frida without Manny Rivera's ever annoying presents.

"Oh hi Frida, what are you doing here?" Serigo asked bashfully.

"Would you like to hang out? We got a killer new game system." Diego invited.

"Stupid Manny. Stupid Zoe. Why can't she just disappear." Frida continued on not noticing that she had company.

"WE CAN HELP YOU WITH THAT!" the boys said eagerly hoping that this will get them on good terms with their all time crush. Not realizing that it will also get Manny and Frida back together.

"Really?" Frida's eyes lit up, only to be disappointed at who she was talking to. "Oh it's you two nobodies," Frida sighed as she started to walk away.

"No Frida wait, we can help you!" Serigo swore.

"Yes we are much more than you think," Diego added.

"Oh what, are you going to tell me that you two losers are really supervillians?" Frida laughed.

"Actually," Diego undid his civilian disguise revealing himself to be Dr. Chipotle Jr. Since Serigo didn't have his robotic suit, he instead activated his remote that summoned his Robotic Banditos that he always kept on standby around the school just in case he needed some muscle.

"You're Senor Siniestro and Dr. Chicken Fingers," Frida gasped.

"CHIPOTLE!" Chipotle corrected her.

"She knows my name," Serigo swooned rubbing it in that he just one up his best friend.

Just then Frida came up with a sinister scheme. "Say you guys are pretty smart right, building robots and guacamole monster and such?"

"We try," the boys blushed with pride.

"Then can you give me super powers?" Frida asked.

"Say what?" the boys gasped.

"You know, super powers that will me the power I need to knock Zoe Aves from here to next week." Frida snickered.

"Isn't that a little extreme?" Serigo wondered. Since he's unaware that Zoe and Cuervo are one and the same.

"Can you do it or not?" Frida demanded.

"We could, but we need an item of power to complete it." Chipotle Jr. informed her.

"Great without Manny where am I going to get one of those?" Frida pondered.

"I got one you can borrow," Django offering his mystic guitar.

"Django of the Dead, what are you still doing here?" Frida asked.

"Oh I had some personal things to take care of," Django chuckled nervously. Ever since he first started living with his grandmother Sartana of the Dead, Django began to having feelings for the blue haired goggle girl. After all Frida spends more time in Sartana's lair than Sartana herself. This led to Frida gaining a rather devoted fan base among the Skeleton Banditos including Django himself.

"Great with all three of your help I will gain the greatest superpower of them all. This I swear!" Frida proclaimed, with the boys bowing at her radiant presence.

* * *

Meanwhile over at the Rivera residence. Rodolfo was serving tea and snacks to his guest. "You really shouldn't have gone to all this trouble," Ingrid insisted but accepted the tea.

"Oh no I insist. After all I never would have been able to defeat the Flock of Fury without your aid." Rodolfo said.

"Gah!" Zim choked as he tried the tea and cookies. His Irken physiology still doesn't tolerate human foods, except maybe waffles. "Are done here? I'd like to leave this filthy cesspool as soon as possible!" Zim ranted.

"Yes this city is a cesspool of crime and villainy," Rodolfo admitted. "Which is why it needs brave heroes to protect it," Rodolfo preached.

"We're just happy to help," Fillmore said calmly but it was clear that something was bothering him.

After deducing that White Pantera and the Flock were the bird and the cat that Waddles told them about, the agents jumped into action. Zim activated his PAK's robotic arms and blasting the two Bird villains with his own lasers. Dib joined in the fight shooting one of the blasters that he got from Waddles' weapons room. Since the Safety Patrol frowns on the use of weapons, Fillmore and Ingrid opted to take net launchers instead for self defense. Truthfully they didn't want to bring any weapons with them but Waddles insisted, and from the looks of the city the little piggy knew what he was doing.

"Ah it warms the heart of this old hero to see the young willing to do what is right," Rodolfo said with pride. "I only wish my own son had your integrity," he sighed sadly.

"Your son?" Ingrid asked getting the feeling that this is going to be important.

"Yes, my son Manny." Rodolfo showed them the newspaper clippings of El Tigre's latest escapades. Most of him robbing banks, fighting villains, vandalizing private and public property, rescuing baby orphans from a burning hospital, and being accused of setting fire to said hospital.

"Whoa I don't think I've ever seen anyone with such a..." Fillmore had to pause to think of the right word. "Complex personality."

"Yes, my son can't decide if he wants to be a hero or a villain, but I believe that he will make the right decision eventually." Rodolfo forcing himself to smile.

"I don't know, it just seems like he's a lost cause. Almost like this whole city." Fillmore accidentally blurted out, basing this on his experience of profiling delinquents. Only to regret it after seeing that it was making Rodolfo cry.

"You mean like how Wayne thought you were a lost cause?" Ingrid teased causing Fillmore to jerk. Everyone looked at Ingrid puzzlingly at Ingrid. Ingrid in turn looked over at Fillmore who nodded back, giving her permission to tell them. "Fillmore here was once the biggest delinquent at our school. Everyone gave up on him except for one Safety Patrol officer Wayne Ligget. He gave Fillmore a chance to turn his life around and now look at him. The best Safety Patrol Officer in X Middle school history." Ingrid then turned to Rodolfo. "So hang on to that hope for your son, after all I know from experience that sometimes even the worst kid can grow up to become the greatest of heroes." Ingrid smiled at Fillmore who smiled back. This renewed Rodolfo's faith not only in his son but humanity as well.

Speaking of El Tigre, without warning, he and Cuervo came bursting in through the window. "Manuel Pablo Gutierrez O'Brian Equahia Rivera, what is going on here?" Rodolfo demanded.

"Dad I need your help! Frida is missing!" Tigre informed him.

"Frida is missing? This looks like a job for" Rodolfo ripped off his suit to reveal another suit only white. "WHITE PANTERA!" Then without waiting for anymore information, White Pantera rushed out and jumped off the balcony.

"Well you've got to admire his enthusiasm," Dib said. Hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

"Alright kid, why don't you start from the beginning?" Fillmore asked Tigre getting into detective mode.

* * *

Later at Serigo's factory, the three boys got busy creating Frida's superpowers. Serigo and his robots constructing some machine, while Chipotle and his Guacamole monster worked on his energy transfer device that will harness the power of Django's guitar. As for Django himself, he was busy plugging his guitar into Chipolte's device. "Are we done yet?" Frida asked impatiently.

"Almost," Serigo said as he made the final adjustments. "Done."

"Excellent, Django throw the switch!" Chipolte ordered.

"Don't take that tone with me," Django warned as he strummed his guitar. The energy from his guitar traveled down the wires to what looked like a giant laser cannon which fired a beam to the device that Serigo was working on. The device started glowing a bright red before exploding, destroying most of the factory.

After the smoke cleared they all stood in awe of what they had created. "It is done," Serigo announced proudly.

"That's it?" Frida snapped. "All that flashing lights, lasers, and explosions for this?" Frida pointing to a pair of red goggles on the lab table. "News flash I already have a pair! They're prescription!"

"Oh Frida my sweet, these are no ordinary goggles." Chipotle Jr said in a suave voice.

"It is my finest robotic work," Serigo jumped in pushing Chipotle Jr aside.

"And since it is powered by my mystic guitar, no force on Earth can match it." Django finished shoving Serigo out of his way.

"Really huh," Frida said skeptically as she tried on the goggles. "Nothing is happening," Frida complained after she noticed no change.

"You just need to turn it on," Serigo informed her hitting the switch on her left goggle. Suddenly the goggles started expanding, transforming into a crimson red robotic suit with a high tech guitar for a weapon.

"Cool," Frida said admiring her new toy. The first thing she did with it was to punch some of the Robotic Banditos that aided with its construction, trashing them with one hit. Then she targeted the Guacamole monster, destroying it with missiles. Finally she used her guitar as a club to smash the Skeleton Banditos that Django summoned to stop her rampage. "Wow this thing is even more powerful than I could ever imagine," Frida praised. "With this I can easily take care of Zoe Aves and Black Cuervo."

"But before that, how about we hang out for a bit?" Serigo requested with both Chipotle Jr and Django hoping with anticipation.

"Um no," Frida replied as she strum her guitar, triggering it to fire a laser blast, sending the boys flying out of the factory and landing in the middle of the Miracle City dump.

"Swine! We really should have seen that coming," Chipotle Jr spitting out some rotten fruit he landed in.

"Yes but it was so worth it," Serigo swooned as the memory of being around Frida without Manny replayed in his mind. Only in his reenactment Frida was being more romantic with him as he working on her suit.

"Best of all she was targeting me," Django boasted. Believing that he was in the center of Frida's crosshair.

"No she was targeting me!" the other two boys protested. Each thinking that Frida was giving special attention them. With that the three boys began wrestling in the trash for a girl who's already forgotten about them.

* * *

Back at the factory

"Now that the dead weight has been taken care of, what shall I do next?" Frida wondered as the door to the factory got torn to shreds as El Tigre came rushing in.

"Frida what is going on here?" Tigre using one of his father's favorite catchphrases.

"Manny how did you find me?" Frida had to asked.

"It wasn't easy, I went back to the school but couldn't find you there, but then I found a trail of robot footprints and guacamole. So I track them down here." Tigre explained.

"That's pretty smart, so I know that couldn't have been your idea." Frida calling him out.

"Yeah your right, it was actually these guys," Tigre pointing to Fillmore and Ingrid who were still gathering evidence in case they were going to court. "So what are you doing her, and where did you get that cool robotic suit?"

"Oh this old thing?" Frida playing coy. "Just a little present from some friends. Now I have superpowers too. You can call me um..." Frida pondered for a bit. "The Ruby Rockstar!" she decided based on the red coloring of her robot.

"That's cool," Tigre agreed.

"Great so now we can do superpower things that we couldn't do before," Frida suggested. Tigre was about to accept when Black Cuervo flew in carrying Dib and Zim. When they were investigating the school they found two sets of suspicious prints, one of robots and the other covered in guacamole. This gave them two likely suspects Senor Siniestro and Dr. Chipotle. Naturally they agreed to split up with Tigre, Fillmore, and Ingrid scoping out the only factory that makes robots; and Cuervo, Dib, and Zim checking out Chipotle's lab.

"We checked out Dr. Chipotle's lab. Nothing over there. Did you find Frida?" Cuervo asked. "Oh there she is," Cuervo realizing that Frida is inside the robotic suit.

"Zoe Aves, what are you doing here?" Frida hissed.

"Oh about that, uh we kind of, sort of," Tigre hesitating to tell her. "I decided to give Zoe another chance," Manny cringed knowing what's about to happen.

"WHAT? Manny how could you?" Frida cried.

"I'm sorry, look I know that you don't like Zoe but..." Tigre tried to apologized.

"Manny don't you understand. You're my best friend, and best friends should only do what I say and what I say is, don't date Zoe Aves! That's a rule." Frida stated.

"Geez Possessive much," Ingrid rolling her eyes.

"I can't believe I wasted my time coming here to actually looking for you," Cuervo snuffed.

"Well I am so glad you are here. Now I can finally finish you off myself! VENDETTA!" Firda strummed her guitar blasting her laser beam at Cuervo.

"Hey that's my thing!" Cuervo objected as she activated her jetpacks to avoid getting hit! Cuervo frantically tried to fly away but the enclosed space of the factory made it difficult for her to maneuver.

"Frida stop!" Tigre begged, but his pleas fell on deaf ears as Frida was completely focused on destroying her life long enemy. Naturally Black Cuervo isn't the only in danger from Frida's attacks, the other agents found themselves frantically trying to avoid getting hit by stray shots.

Zim immediately extended the robotic arms from his PAK and started scurrying around like a cockroach. Dib slid behind some equipment for cover as he drew his own blaster and started shooting back. Not knowing who was shooting at her Frida fired several missiles over to where Dib was hiding. Dib barely managed to get away before the missiles destroyed his hiding place, but still more were locking on to him. Dib closed his eyes as he braced for the end. When he heard the missiles exploding prematurely. Carefully opening his eyes the was surprised to see Zim using his Irken shield to protect him from the missiles. "You saved me?" Dib stuttered in a moment of disbelief.

"Don't think too much into it Dib, I just don't want anyone to have the satisfaction of destroying you. That is a pleasure I'm saving for myself." Zim claimed.

"Don't hold your breath," Dib shot back. The two enemies turned teammates drew out their weapons and started firing on the Ruby Rockstar.

Fillmore and Ingrid used the rolling chairs like skateboards to avoid getting hit by the laser fire and missiles flying all around them. They also mixed things up by using their extreme agility to climb up on the factory's machinery in order to get them into better position against Frida. While Frida was distracted fighting the others, Fillmore and Ingrid fired their nets at her. The plan worked perfectly and soon the Ruby Rockstar was completely tangled up. "Give it up, that's solid titanium wiring. It is unbreakable." Fillmore informed her. Frida screamed in frustration as she pushed her robotic suit to the limit and ripped the net apart.

"Man they don't titanium nets like they used to," Ingrid joked.

Furious that these strangers are getting in her way, Frida turned her full fury on them. Blasting them with every weapon she had. Zim and Dib were able to hold their own, mainly because Irken technology is on par with superhero level, but Fillmore and Ingrid weren't that lucky. Normally Black Cuervo could care less about innocent bystanders, even those helping her, but for some reason her instincts kicked in and she swooped down to airlift the two Safety Patrol Officers out of harms way.

While all this is going on Tigre just stood there, torn on what he should do. Even though he could easily disable Frida's suit, he didn't want to attack his best friend, but at the same time he also didn't want to see innocent people get hurt. As always when he's forced between to impossible choices, Tigre decided to just wait this out and hope that the situation takes care of itself. As expected his indecision had consequences as the ongoing battle started to compromise the building's structural integrity, causing the roof to collapse right on top of Frida.

"Frida! Look out!" Tigre cried out as he heroically pounced at Ruby Rockstar, clawed open the cockpit, and pulled Frida out just in time and the debris smashed her robot. Not wanting to take anymore chanced inside, Tigre used his Claw Chain to swing himself and Frida outside. With Everyone else closely following.

"Manny you saved me?" Frida hugging her savior. "Um sorry about all that. I guess I went a little crazy back there, but I was just so excited about getting my own superpowers." Frida apologized.

"I know the feeling," Tigre said understandingly. Remembering how he felt when he first got his belt. His recklessness ended up causing him to accidentally claw his own eye. He still has the scar to prove it.

"Does that mean we're still friends?" Frida asked.

"Of course, we're always going to be best pals," Tigre assured her.

"So does that mean you'll finally break up with Zoe and things can go back to just you and me?" Frida asked.

"Uh," Tigre looked over to Cuervo who was also waiting for his response. "No," he finally said. "Sorry Frida but me and Zoe are a couple again. For real this time with no more secrets." Tigre walked over to Cuervo and held her hands/talons in his claws.

"Well then if you really want to date my mortal enemy then we can no longer be friends!" Frida stormed off.

"Sheesh what a drama queen, and I should know." Dib said since Frida's attitude reminded him of his sister Gaz's tantrum whenever she doesn't get what she wants.

"Manny sorry I put you in that situation," Cuervo apologized. Even though she's not the bit sorry but wanted to look like the sympathetic girlfriend.

"No it's not your fault," Tigre assured her. Completely buying her act.

"Oh and Cuervo thanks for saving us back there," Ingrid said.

"What Cuervo saved you?" White Pantera's voice gasped as he appeared from behind them.

"Dad what are you doing here?" Tigre asked completely startled by his father's sudden appearance.

"I was out looking for Frida when I notice this building collapsing and came to investigate," Pantera explained. "Now tell me why would one of the Flock of Fury rescue a complete stranger? Villains don't even rescue their own."

"Well um..." Cuervo trying to come up with an excuse. "I don't know. I just reacted."

"Ah Black Cuervo this simple deed could lead you down the path of a hero, if you're willing to try." Pantera offered.

"I-I-I don't think so. My mom would kill me." Cuervo stuttered as activated her wings and flew off. "Oh and Manny we're still on for our date tomorrow?"

"Yeah I'll pick you up at eight!" Tigre yelled back.

* * *

Frida angrily stomped around the city randomly and soon found herself over at the dump where Django, Serigo, and Deigo were still fighting each other. Frida whistled loudly to get their attention. "Oh hey Frida, how was the suit?" Serigo asked.

"It got destroyed," Frida informed them causing them to lower their heads in sorrow. "So anyway I was wondering, is there anyway you guys could make me another one?" Frida asked.

"Sure," Serigo jumped only to be put down by the other two.

"I don't know? It took a lot of time and effort to build it." Deigo asked.

"Plus I don't think my guitar has anymore power," Django lied.

"If you guys can make me a bigger and stronger robot then maybe I'll let you buy me dinner." Frida said seductively. With that the boys immediately agreed to her terms. Serigo and Deigo even started planning on several upgrades they have in the works with Django claiming to have stolen an guitar string from his grandma Sartana which will make his own guitar more powerful. "Well this looks like the beginning of a hideous friendship," Frida commented. Seeing as how she really can't sand any of these guys, but it is obvious that she can easily manipulate them to be her lackeys.

* * *

Over at **N.I.C.E.** Sartana of the Dead exited the portal back to the meeting room. "So how did it go?" one member asked.

"Just as I planned. My grandson is now inleague with Senor Siniestro and Dr. Chipotle Jr. With him able to summon his own army of Skeleton Banditos, and Sinistro's robots and Chipotle's monsters, they will have the most fiercest army the world has ever known." Sartana boasted.

"But only if they can remain together. Tell me how do you plan to accomplish that?"

"Simple, Frida Suarez. So long as she bears hatred for Cuervo and Tigre, she will keep the boys united under a common cause." Sartana explained.

"That is you plan? I hate to break it to you but no Rivera/Aves relationship ever last that long. In fact I'm willing to bet money that they won't even last the week."

"As much as I would love to take your money, I can guarantee that this time they would last a very long time. Thanks to my friend Love God." Sartana boasted.

"Love God, how did you procure his services?"

"Yes he's usually neutral in these affairs."

"He owed me a favor, I filled in when one of his band members got the flu. Plus there's nothing he won't do for deep fried foods." Sartana laughed in triumph. Soon the other members all joined in the laughter as well. Unaware of the changes happening on the Scale of Libra.

* * *

Over at Pig Headquarters

 _"This is not good,"_ Waddles thought.

"What is wrong my friend?" Rose asked.

 _"Another mission has been completed but the scale has tipped towards the side of light."_ Waddles showing Rose the scale.

"But how? Did your team succeed too well?" Rose asked.

 _"No, an unforeseen event occurred. It seems that Black Cuervo is considering changing her alignment to good."_ Waddles reported after checking his computer.

"But three of the most dangerous supervillains just formed an alliance and created a new villain." Rose pointed out.

 _"And it would seem that a heroic union of Riveras and Aves is far a greater force for good than that. Tipping the scale in our favor."_ Waddles sighed.

"Well hopefully this won't have too sever repercussions," Rose prayed.


	7. Mansion of Mystery

**A/N: I don't own the character Catherine. She's an OC belonging to Alisi Thorndyke please read her story Always By Your Side Chapters 4-5 Verses Mabel I and II to learn about her origins.**

* * *

"Step right up come see wonders you never knew existed!" Soos announced to next group of tourist. Ever since taking over the Mystery Shack, Soos has been taking his role as the new Mr. Mystery very seriously. Going as far as wear Stan's old suits, after having them tailored to fit him, and calling himself Mr. Mystery Jr. Soos even fixed the 'S' on the roof, as well as building new attractions like the Rocket Golf Cart from the Future and the Tripped out Haunted Coo Coo Clock. (See Fixing it with Soos) Thanks to his hard work the Mystery Shack is doing well. Yet despite living in the Shack, and learning all the can from the previous tenants, the Mystery Shack still had secrets that Soos is unaware of.

Just outside the Shack a small portal opened and a rather dignified individual stepped through. "So this is Gravity Falls, how quaint." he commented as he joined the tour group.

"Now folks before we enter the Mysterious Maze of Mirrors. Is there any questions?" Soos asked his customers.

"Excuse me but I don't suppose we be allowed some refreshments before continuing?" someone asked.

"I am so glad you asked," Soos snickered as he led the group to a room designated as the snack room. Inside there were plenty of sodas but the only food was a single slice of pizza held by a makeshift robotic arm made from an old desk lap stand and an old glove.

"That's it? One slice?" the tourist complained.

"Oh but this here is no ordinary slice," Soos said. Taking a bite out of the pizza the group marveled as the pizza regenerated itself. "This is the amazing Infinity Pizza. No matter how many bites you take," Soos took another bite and again the pizza regenerated. "It will do that for like infinity," Soos laughed. "And for 1, I mean 5, uh 10, 15 dollars you can take as many bites as you like. Soda sold separately." Hearing that the tourist all threw their money at Soos for the chance to take a bite out of the infinite pizza. "Just be careful not to eat too much pizza, this thing gave me my third heart attack." Soos warned, though it seems that his warning fell on deaf ears as the guest continued to chow down on the slice. All except one. "Um Sir is there a problem?" Soos asked this strange lizard man.

"Forgive me but I'm afraid I'm not really a fan of pizza. Now if you had the immortal corn dog, then I'd pay plenty to take a bite out of that." the stranger said.

"Sorry Mr uh" Soos tried to apologize.

"Toffee," he said introducing himself.

"Toffee, that sounds like the candy." Soos joked shaking his hand, but being a little more than freaked out by the fact that Toffee was missing a finger. If Toffee was the least bit offended, he didn't show it. "Yeah I tried to buy that corn dog from this weird green guy with a pickle nose, but he wouldn't sell." Soos apologized.

"Too bad, but I don't suppose you have anything else?" Toffee asked.

"We have a vending machine in the gift shop. It hasn't work in a long time but maybe you might get lucky." Soos suggested.

"Thank you," Toffee said as he headed to the gift shop.

"Um Soos," Soos's employee/girlfriend Melody nudged him.

"What is it?" Soos asked.

"Soos aren't you a bit concerned that the guy is a giant Lizard man?" Melody pointed out.

"Huh, I did think the long rows of razor sharp teeth were a bit odd." Soos commented. "But he dresses nice and has been very polite. Besides strange things like him are pretty much on par with all the weirdness we see around here. I still think my mailman is a werewolf."

"I guess," Melody said hesitantly. She's only been working for Soos for a few days now, and while she's not quiet up to speed about everything going on, she is aware of some of the weirdness happening around town.

"That's my girl," Soos said before returning to the tour.

Toffee made his way to the candy machine. After making sure no one was watching, he pressed 1-A-B-C-3 on the machine and smiled as the secret passage opened up. Calmly making his way to Ford's secret lab, Toffee examined the area where the dimensional portal once stood. "I must say that Ford person did a thorough job cleaning up the mess," Toffee complimented as he continued to search around until he found what he was looking for. "But like all novices he missed the Dimensional Scars," Toffee laughed.

Normally portal making devices like Dimensional scissors have safety features built into them so that they can open and close portals without any ill effects. However unstable portal generators like the one Ford made, even if they are deactivated, can leave behind tears or in some cases scars. Unlike tears, Dimensional Scars are almost undetectable and are relatively harmless since the universe heals over them like an ordinary scar. However, if one has the right tools they can not only use them to reopen the portals, but they can also open portals to other realms not accessible by normal means; and Toffee has such a tool. Raising his special Dimensional scissors, Toffee jabbed into the scar and cut a small opening. The unstable energies from the tear caused his dimensional scissors to melt! (which is why most people don't use them on scars) Not that it bothered Toffee since the scissors did what he intended. Toffee smiled as this mysterious individual struggled to squeeze though the tiny tear. It looked almost like a giant infant being born. "Welcome to my universe," Toffee greeted.

The newcomer appeared to be a little girl about 13 years of age with brown hair. She was wearing what at first glance looked like a black one piece bathing suit, but after a second look you'd see that it also had a nearly transparent black sleeves and dress. Complete with black high heel slippers with black eyeliner and alternating black and white nail polish on her fingers and toes.

"I see someone is a fan of the Princess Daphne look," Toffee complimented. Although he would never admit it, Dragon's Lair and more specifically Princess Daphne was the reason Toffee spent a lot of time and a lot of quarters at the arcade when he was younger.

"Well she is the most famous Princess of all," the girl commented. "So who are you and why should I care?"

"Forgive me, my name is Toffee," Toffee introducing himself. "And I happen to represent some powerful individuals who are interested procuring your services."

"Eeh wrong! I'm not some hussy for hire!" the girl protested.

"Says the girl dressed up like a sleazy princess who is based off of Playboy models," Toffee mocked.

"So what do you want?" the girl asked.

"I need you to destroy Northwest Manor," Toffee said.

"Northwest huh," the girl grinned since Pacifica is on her revenge list. "Well maybe just this once." Accepting Toffee offer.

* * *

Meanwhile across town, at the formally Northwest Manor, another dimensional portal opened up and two kids, Team Creepy Freaks exited. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, how did we get stuck with that name?" Marco protested.

"It was my idea," Janna grinned showing off her vampire fangs.

"That figures," Marco groaned. "Still I can't believe you stole Star's Dimensional scissors! And how did you even steal then in the first place?" he demanded. Janna again grinned suspiciously.

* * *

Over at Echo Creek

"This one," Star testing a pair of child's safety scissors to see if it open portal. It didn't. "Nope," Star tossing the scissors over her shoulder and picking another pair off the floor of her room. Which was littered with junk and about dozens of scissors all over the floor. "How about this one?" Testing the scissors only to toss them aside as well. "Oh come on! One of these has got to be my scissors!" Star whined.

* * *

Back at Gravity Falls.

"Oh right," Marco sighed. Knowing how disorganized Star is it's a wonder she can find anything without having to conjure it up with her wand. Sometimes it amazes him that she hasn't lost her wand yet in that disaster zone she calls a bedroom. "So what are we doing here?"

"Don't know, the pig said we have to help some friends." Janna reported.

"Friends? We don't have any friends here." Marco argued.

"Oh are you kidding me!" A nasty but familiar female voice complained.

"Nope that's the address Waddles gave us," another familiar male voice said.

Marco and Janna hurried to investigate and to their surprise they found their former colleagues Dipper and Pacifica. "Dipper? Pacifica? What are you doing here?" Marco asked.

"I could ask you the same thing. We're here because this is where the Mystery house game is suppose to be taking place." Dipper answered showing them the invite and address.

"I swear if this is an elaborate prank, I'll turn that little porker into pork grinds!" Pacifica yelled.

"What's her problem?" Janna asked.

"Oh this used to be her house but when her family lost their money, they had to sell it." Dipper informed them.

"Whoa that's harsh. Anyway Waddles sent us here on a mission. I guess he wants us to help you solve the mystery." Marco figured.

"Great so even when we're out, he still finds a way to keep pulling us both back in!" Pacifica quoted.

"Hey Dipper plus friends! Friends? I thought I only invited you plus one. Oh well I'm sure I just forgot that detail. What are you doing out there. The mystery game for a million is about to begin. So get your keisters in here." the new owner of the mansion, Fiddleford McGucket invited doing his happy jig.

"There's no way I'm going back in there!" Pacifica swore.

"Come on Pacifica, there's a million dollars if we win, and since this is your old house you must already know all the secrets. Giving us the advantage." Dipper pointed out.

Pacifica thought about it for a second. Yes she loves money, and yes she loves winning. So the fact that she already has an advantage over the competition is definitely making situation more agreeable. "Alright fine, but if we lose, you owe me a million." Pacifica threatened. Dipper gulped as he followed his girlfriend back into her old house.

* * *

In a forbidden part of Gravity Falls.

Toffee led the girl to a small triangular statue. "Hello old friend, you certainly looked better." Toffee greeted the body turned statue of Bill Cipher.

"Please tell me why are we here again?" the girl asked.

"Because you are not ready for the task at hand," Toffee said bluntly as he reached down to the statue and pulled Bill's eye out.

"Ooh, even though he's a statue, that's kind of cold." the girl praised. She actually enjoys seeing other things being tormented and thanks to the cracks in the statue, it looks almost like Bill is crying over the loss of his only eye.

"A statue he may be, but even in this form he still has his uses." Toffee said as he started molding the eye like it was clay into a small pyramid necklace. "Here this will give you approximate power of the original."

The girl took the necklace and put it on. Suddenly she could feel a surge of power going through her. "Magnificent," the girl laughed. "Now let's see how this measures up." Looking around she spots a deer. Waving her hand she pulls the teeth right out of the deer's mouth. Just like what Bill did, only she didn't bother to put the teeth back, and instead enjoyed watching the creature suffer from her dental work. "Whoa this is awesome!" the girl laughed.

"Now that you're satisfied. You still have to fulfill your end of the bargain." Toffee reminded her.

"Yeah yeah I'll do it," the girl promised as she made her way to the Northwest Manor.

* * *

Back at the Mansion, McGucket greeted his guest at the dining table. "I'd like to thank you all for comin' and welcum to McGucket's first ever Mansion of Mystery game! Where you all have the chance to win millions in prizes! Now before we get down to the festivities. Let's have some grub." McGucket clapped his hands, but instead of servants McGucket himself got up, ran to the kitchen, and started carting in trays of food for his guests. After everyone got served, McGucket sat back down at the head of the table. "Now please enjoy," he insisted.

The guest eagerly lifted the lids off the plates expecting some kind of high class feast; but instead what they got was roadkill possum, old boot soup, snake kabobs, and salad made with rotten fruits and vegetables. Needless to say, seeing this food was bad enough, but watching McGucket actually enjoying the food was enough to drive people over the edge. Soon most of his guest were either running for the bathroom or just running out of the mansion.

"Oh man I love this old guy," Janna said taking a picture of meal so that she can send it to all her friends back at Echo Creek.

"What's the matter? I prepared all my favorites for the party." McGucket wondered.

"I think that's the problem," Pacifica said bluntly trying hard not to vomit. Thanks to the many adventures she had with Dipper, Pacifica developed a strong stomach for disgusting things, but even she has her limits.

"I think I'll stick to this," Dipper said pulling out a can out from his vest.

"What is that?" Marco asked hoping Dipper might share some of it.

"Spinach," Dipper showing Marco the can. "Yeah Waddles got me hooked on this stuff. It's not bad actually." Dipper said eating the spinach raw and straight out of the can. "Want some?" he offered Marco.

"I'm good," Marco choked. Since in his own mind, spinach is just as bad as road kill.

"Oh geez and I really wanted to make a good impression," McGucket cried.

"So how about we start the game?" Marco suggested nervously. He wasn't entirely sure but he could have sworn that the possum is still moving.

"Yes the sooner the better," Dipper agreed. Jumping out of his seat as fast as he could.

Oh kay then," McGucket sighed clapping his hands again. And again instead of servants, McGucket himself cleared the table. After he finished he once again took his seat at the head of the table. "Now my friends, we are about to embark on a mysterious mystery. Somewhere in this house are pieces of a map leading to a buried treasure. Who ever manages to piece the map together and finds the treasure will win the grand prize." McGucket instructed.

"Sounds easy enough," Marco commented.

"Oh and just beware of the ghosts of the former owners haunting this here old mansion." McGucket warned.

"Hey the former owners are not dead!" Pacifica objected. "Besides me and Dipper already got rid of all the ghosts!"

"Well we only got rid of one, there might be more vengeful spirits against your family. So it's best to still be careful." Dipper advised. Pacifica shut her mouth after that since she's fully aware of her family's past crimes and the grudge that many people both past and present have for the Northwest.

Hidden in the shadows the girl watched the festivities with great interest. "Oh man looks like Christmas came early this year. Not only do I get to destroy this tacky mansion, but bonus, I can kill my no good half twin brother as well! And with this haunted mystery game, I can have some fun doing it."

* * *

Dipper, Pacifica, Marco, and Janna began exploring the mansion for clues of the map and treasure. Eventually they found a piece of a diner play map in the map room where Pacifica's parents would keep their ocean charts for when they want to go sailing. Ironically the map wasn't even hidden, it was a light up frame on the middle of the wall. They could see it as soon as they entered. Not only that McGucket wrote, 'This is a clue' with an arrow pointing at the map.

"Gee you think this is a clue?" Pacifica retorted.

"I don't know it could be a trap," Marco cautioned.

"No I know McGucket, so I believe he really is trying to be subtle." Dipper said.

"Man I love this guy. If this is him being subtle I can't wait to see him being obvious." Janna joked.

"Okay we got what we came for, let's go." Pacifica suggested.

 _"What's your hurry? The party is just getting started."_ an eerie voice said. The agents and former agents immediately put their guard up waiting to see what's coming. To their surprise the statues of old mermaids and sea monsters that decorated the room came to life and began attacking them. Marco started using his karate technique to punch and kick the statues, which turned out to be a bad idea since statues are a lot harder than the soft monsters Macro is accustom to fighting. Resulting with him almost breaking his hands. Dipper grabbed an old harpoon gun and used it to shoot at the statues, but harpoons only have one shot. Janna ran around the room laughing at the mayhem but still did what she could by grabbing some items from the trash and threw them at the statues. While everyone else was distracting the statues, Pacifica made her way to the wall on the opposite side of the room. There she opened a secret compartment and pulled out some glass bottles filled with water. Pacifica them threw the bottles at the statues which caused them to shake and explode!

"Whoa what was in those bottles?" Dipper asked.

"Anointed Holy Water," Pacifica said showing the logo on the bottles. "What after finding out ghosts were real I bought a bunch of stuff for exorcism. I have holy water and other monster fighting tools hidden all over this mansion." Pacifica explained after seeing the bewildered expression on Dipper's face. Mainly because Dipper never trusted that brand of holy water, believing it to be a sham. So, in his mind, it never should have worked on possessed statues.

"What I want to know is, what was that all about?" Marco screamed.

"Oh don't get your underwear in a bunch," Janna teased. Taking a selfie with the downed statues.

"Hey I iron all my all my underwear so that they don't bunch up!" Marco informed her only to get some weird looks from everyone else.

"Hey these are all robots!" Dipper said with great relief after investigating the statues and finding wires inside. Believing that the so called holy water simply shorted them out.

"What? How can that be? I know they weren't robots when we bought them." Pacifica insisted.

"Ah McGucket must have modified them so that the place would seem haunted." Dipper figured since that's the sort of thing McGucket would do.

"So this place isn't haunted?" Marco breathing a sigh of relief.

"I didn't say that. After all we fought a ghost here once." Dipper putting his arms around Pacifica. Recalling how much closer they became after that.

"So this place is haunted? I'm gonna need a definite answer here." Marco said.

"Let's just finish the game," Dipper suggested.

As the team left the room the girl stepped out of the shadow. Waving her and all of the electronics in the statues disappeared. "Who would have thought that little miss prissy would have a stock pile of holy water?" the girl hissed. Never really expecting that such a low quality brand holy water would mess up her powers like that much. Fortunately she was able to put up a minor illusion spell to make the statues only look robots. "You and your friends won this round bro, but I'm not through with you yet. Not by a long shot!"

The continued on their way through the mansion, and every time they'd encounter some strange attack. In the kitchen, the fire from the stove erupted into giant fire snakes. Over at the art room, the paint from the paintings melted off the canvas and merge to became a giant slime monster. The peacocks in the garden became vicious monsters that shoot deadly lasers from their tail feathers. Even pool had these shark men rising out of the water ready to eat them. Fortunately Thanks to Marco's karate, Dipper's ingenuity, Janna's creative thinking and Pacifica knowing where they can find some weapons hidden around, they manage to survive the ordeals. As for the rest of the guests either ran off or are being escorted to the hospital.

"You know I'm seriously starting to think that this isn't your friend's doing!" Marco said fighting an empty suit of armor from Preston's collection of Medieval weapons.

"Normally I'd agree with you except that we actually helped McGucket turn my Grunckle's shack into a giant robot with a T-rex arm to fight a bunch of demons from another dimension." Dipper said using a shield to fend off a floating mace trying to smash his skull in. "So I'm certain that this is his work," Dipper said confidently.

"I found the last map," Janna said showing everyone the back of a tapestry that had a picture of McGucket holding a sign that said look here.

"Great let's get out of here!" Pacifica said hiding underneath a desk. The group hid in Pacifica's old room, the one place Dipper claims is safe because of some protective spell he placed there a long time ago. Believing that they were safe, they got to work putting the pieces of the map together. "Of course that's where the treasure would be buried," Pacifica moaned.

"What's wrong?" Dipper asked.

"That is our private cemetery," Pacifica informed them.

"Why am I not surprised," Marco retorted.

"Did I ever say how much I love that old man," Janna repeated.

* * *

The group walked carefully through the graveyard. Dipper and Marco constantly checking for any booby traps or triggers for more of McGucket's robots. "Okay according to the map, the treasure is buried right under that tombstone, huh?" Dipper choked seeing 'Here lies Dipper Pines' on the tombstone.

"Okay this is getting way past freaky even for McGucket!" Pacifica said.

"Yeah I thought you said he was your friend?" Marco said. Even as a practical joke this is going too far.

"I don't know," Dipper said trying to wrap his head around everything that has happen.

"Dipper! Dipper! Please save me!" Dipper heard his sister calling him.

"Mabel? Where are you?" Dipper called out. Following her voice they soon found Mabel floating inside a giant snow globe.

"Dipper please save me!" Mabel pleaded.

"But how?" Dipper asked.

"You need to get the key, McGucket keeps it around his neck. You need to slay him to get it!" Mabel instructed.

"But why would McGucket kidnapped you?" Dipper wondered.

"Please save me! I can barely breath!" Mabel coughed.

"Alright I'm going!" Dipper said. Seeing his twin in mortal peril, Dipper tossed aside any rational or logical thinking. Leaving only a desire to save his sister at any cost.

"Hold it!" Pacifica said grabbing Dipper's arm. "Something is not right."

"But Pacifica, I know you don't like Mabel but she's my sister." Dipper pleaded.

"You're right, I don't like Mabel. In fact just the sound of her voice irritates me." Pacifica cringed. "But this one doesn't."

"What are you saying?" Dipper asked.

"That this is a fake!" Pacifica accused.

"I never thought that you'd be the one to see through my facade," fake Mabel laughed as the glass dome that was supposedly keeping her prisoner exploded and the girl made her true self known.

"Mabel?" Dipper said since the girl still looked his sister. Except for the skimpy outfit which Dipper found kind of hot. Not that he'd ever admit it.

"No my name is Catherine, Mabel's copier clone!" Catherine announced.

"Catherine, huh. Mabel always did like that name." Dipper commented. "But wait, when did she make a clone of herself?"

"Oh come now bro, do you really believe that Mabel tells you everything?" Catherine laughed.

"Eh true," Dipper conceded. After all Mabel has confessed to using Dipper's Journal and things without asking. "So what is it that you're after?"

"What I always wanted. To kill my original so that I can become the one true Mabel." Catherine laughed manically.

"Over my dead body!" Dipper declared.

"I know, that's why I have to kill you too. I was hoping to use this little game so that I can kill you subtly, but I suppose I'd enjoy it more if you knew who was behind your demise." Catherine raised her arms above her head. The ground shook violently and the long dead lumber jacks that perished in the construction of the Northwest mansion rose our from the ground. In addition to the zombies, the trees and rocks also started to become animated. Their moans all screamed of vengeance and cursing the Northwest bloodline for the construction of the mansion. For Pacifica it felt as if this was a moment of retribution against her family. While Dipper and Marco fought for their lives, Pacifica just stood there paralyzed. Unsure of what to do. As much as she wants to fight to live; she felt that if she fought back she's would only be adding to the list of sins her family committed.

"Pacifica!" Dipper screamed. Finally snapping Pacifica out of her trauma, she noticed Dipper using an old rusty shovel fighting desperately to protect her. After the shovel broke, one of the zombies punched Dipper in the face giving him a black eye.

"Alright you creeps, if you want my blood then fine, but nobody hurts my Dipper!" Pacifica shrieked. While she may be fine with making amends for past wrongs, Pacifica isn't willing to let others pay for her family's crimes. Putting her last bottle of holy water down on the ground, Pacifica then picked up a broken branch and set herself up as if playing golf. Carefully emptying her mind, blocking out everything happening around her, and focusing only on the holy water and the target she wants to hit. "FORE!" Pacifica yelled before hitting the water bottle, sending it flying into the air. As one would expect from a World Ranking Mini-golf Player, Pacifica's aim was straight and true. Heading right for Catherine!

"No I'll melt!" Catherine yelled seeing the deadly liquid heading straight for her. But mere seconds before the water hit her, a portal opened up and Toffee's hand reached out and pulled her in. Once the Cipher amulet was well out of range, the zombies and monsters that Catherine summoned all started fading away.

"Dipper are you alright?" Pacifica asked checking out his eye.

"I'm alright," Dipper assured her. "But what about you? That shot was amazing!" Dipper praised causing Pacifica to blush.

"is it over? What happened to Catherine?" Marco wondered.

"I'm sure she's gone. Copier clones melt when exposed to water." Dipper explained. As the trio paused to enjoy their victory, they finally realized that they were missing one person.

"Hey where's Janna?" Marco asked going into panic thinking that she might have taken away or eaten by zombies.

"Looking for me?" Janna said creepily as she slowly rose from behind a tombstone and whispering in Marco's ear.

"Janna! Where have you been?" Marco demanded.

"My job, looking for the treasure." Janna laughed showing them the treasure box she dug up with they were busy fighting the zombies.

"So I guess this means we won," Pacifica said eagerly. While Janna wanted to open the box since she was the one who found the treasure, the others decided that Pacifica deserves the honor since this was her old home and it was her stash of holy water and other weapons that won the day. Pacifica held her breath as she undid the lock. Inside she found, "Keys?" Pacifica showing everyone the contents.

"Are they keys to the real treasure box?" Marco guessed since he knew of some reality shows where they need to find the right key for the big treasure chest held by the host.

"No, these are the keys to the mansion!" Pacifica recognized them as her house keys. Ironic since she never really had to use them with servant opening the door for her all the time. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Woo Hoo! That means you won the grand prize!" McGucket congratulated doing his happy jig.

"Great but won what exactly?" Pacifica asked.

"Why you won the chance to live with me in my mansion for the next year!" McGucket announced.

"Say what?" everyone gasped.

"Why?" Dipper asked.

"Because, because I'm so lonely living in a big place all by myself. I keep hearing all these spooky sounds at night it just scares me." McGucket confessed.

"Why don't you just ask your son move in or rent out some rooms out?" Dipper suggested.

"I tried but my own son refused, and when I tired to rent some rooms out, nobody accepted." McGucket cried. "Then when watching on the magic talking box I found out that lots of people are willing to risk their lives for stupid prizes. That's when I came up with this Mansion of Mystery game." McGucket said proudly.

"But your invite said millions of dollars worth of prizes," Pacifica pointed out.

"Well," McGucket thinking about it for a second. "The rent is a million dollars and since you'll be staying for free then that's fair right?"

"Wow and I thought Stan was a con artist," Dipper said shaking his head.

"So no takers?" McGucket slouch in depression.

"I'll take it," Pacifica suddenly said. Surprisingly everyone present.

"Are you sure?" McGucket asked in disbelief.

"Look I know that Northwest Manor is no longer mine, but it was home for so long, and I want to go back. And I'm sure that my parents would love to return too." Pacifica admitted. Overjoyed McGucket began doing his happy jig. "But I have some conditions. First off I want my old room back and Second just stay as far away from me as possible."

"I know I should be insulted, but I'm desperate for company so I'll take it!" McGucket agreed.

* * *

Somewhere in another Dimension Toffee pulled Catherine to safety through a portal. "Why did you do that? I had them!" Catherine insisted.

"Yes that's why you were crying out I'm melting, melting, oh what a world." Toffee mocked.

"I didn't say that," Catherine pouted. Ashamed to admit that she would have said that if she did get wet. "Besides I wouldn't have been in that situation if your stupid medallion worked the way it's suppose to." Catherine lied. Truthfully the amulet was way too powerful for her to handle so she could only animate a few objects. If she tried to do anymore, the power might have overwhelmed and destroyed her.

"Yes it's always the equipment's fault," Toffee rolling his eyes. "Anyway I've talked it over with my employers and they say while you failed in your mission you have shown potential. If you agree to some training you may become even more powerful than Bill Cipher himself." Toffee offered.

"Will I get to kill Dipper and Mabel Pines?" Catherine asked.

"You can kill who ever you want, so long as you do what we ask." Toffee said.

"Then sign me up," Catherine smiled.

* * *

Over in PHQ.

Waddles watched as the Scale tip slightly towards the center. _"That went surprisingly well,"_ Waddles thought.

"You know the scale would have tipped further if you'd allow your agents to destroy the mansion," Rose commented.

 _"Perhaps, but I have need of Northwest Manor. Now that Pacifica is living there again she's in a perfect spot to assist my agents if the needs arises and with her involvement that will bring Dipper in as well. And as a bonus McGucket is genius will can help create weapons and equipment that will prove useful."_ Waddles justified.

"The Senate is not going to like this. You know the use unauthorized personnel is not permitted." Rose reminded him.

 _"The rules only state that I can't order civilians to go on missions, but if they just happen to be in the area of missions, and they offer to help my agents. There's nothing in the rules against that. Even your Crystal Gems have gone to Greg from time to time for help."_ Waddles justified. This loophole meant that Waddles can still use the other candidates he had to reject or dismiss due to limited job openings or them quitting, but like with all loopholes that didn't mean such atrocious actions were accepted or tolerated within **D.I.C.S.** _"So can you please not tell the senate about this,"_ Waddles begged.

"I can't say I approve, but I also understand why you're doing this. So I'll keep your secret for now." Rose sighed softly. Hoping that this doesn't bite them both in the butt.


	8. Return of the Queen

**A/N: The OCs Gage Allen and Chris Savon are not mine. They belong to The Keeper of Worlds. Naturally with a few creative liberties taken.**

* * *

Somewhere in the middle of the cosmos a portal opens up and two figures emerged. "So tell again why are we doing this?" Tso Lan the Moon Demon demanded.

"Because dear brother, we are at risk of losing our position after our numerous defeats at the hand of Jackie Chan." Shendu the Fire Demon explained.

"We? From what I heard only you are the only one at risk of losing his seat in **N.I.C.E.** after that stunt you pulled with the Book of Ages." Tso Lan laughed.

"We all had a part in that, and thus we all will share in the punishment!" Shendu argued. Even though he's fully aware that the council is only planning on only disciplining him alone for violating rules against rewriting the past, he still insist that all his siblings are set for punishment as well. Mainly because it's the only way he has left to manipulate them into helping him with his schemes in hopes of retaining his position.

"So you say," Tso Lan chuckled in amusement. Since he and the other demons already suspect that their brother is lying to them, who can blame them, but are still humoring him if only to see this plot blow up in Shendu's scaly face. "Let's get this over with," Tso Lan said. Raising his arms he started started moving the planets and other heavenly bodies across the heavens. "I must say this is a lot easier than I expected." Tso Lan commented as he moved the last star into position.

"That's because the universe is on our side. It wants whatever it is we're planning to happen." Shendu mused.

"Shendu something is wrong. I'm losing control!" Tso Lan struggled to say. Unable to hold it any longer, the planetary bodies snapped back to their original positions. "What happened?"

"I suppose it was too much to expect that everything would go our way. Hopefully it was enough to suit our purposes." Shendu griped as he and his brother left via portal.

* * *

In one of the many schools in San Francisco the last bell of the week rung, and as always every student raced out of school building wanting make the most of the weekend. All except one. Jade Chan slowly made her way out among the hustle and bustle of her fellow students, remembering a time when she used to feel like them. So young, so hopeful, so full of life. All that changed one day when she, her uncles, and friends fought against an all powerful demon Drago along with the aid of his father Sendu. While the J-Team were successful in banishing the two demon sorcerers the battle also effectively removed all dark magic, including the talismans, from the world. Now after months of peace Jade is facing her greatest enemy, boredom.

At first Jade was fine with peace and quite for a few days, but now she finds herself getting restless. Waiting by the door of Uncle's shop hoping beyond hope that Jackie, Captain Black or even Tohru would come home with news about some new baddie or magical mystery that needs to be taken down. Sadly the most exciting news, at least by Jackie's standards, that they brought home was that the museum needed him and Uncle to authenticate some Chinese artifacts. None of which were that valuable or have any magical lore attached to them. Meaning that it was highly unlikely anyone would try to steal them or trigger some magical adventure. So needless to say that Jade passed on the invite to join them. Which still left her completely bored. "Man it's times like this I wish I still had the talismans, at least then I can still have some fun." Jade complained. Just then Jade saw her 'good friend' Jimmy, the boy who was once going to become Tohru's apprentice and subsequently the evil wizard Iso, walking by. That's when Jade got a mischievous idea in her head. "Hey Jimmy fancy meeting you here," Jade greeted hoping to start off with some small talk first.

"Hey Jade," Jimmy said somewhat reluctantly.

"Say Jimmy you still dabble in magic right?" Jade casually directed the conversation.

"Whatever it is the answer is no," Jimmy responded.

"Aw but you didn't even listen to what I was going to say," Jade whined.

"I don't have to. I just know that when you get that look in your eye that means trouble." Jimmy said.

"Oh come on, Jimmy old buddy, old pal. For old times sake?" Jade pleaded.

"Fine I'll listen," Jimmy conceded. "But no dark magic stuff! I don't ever want to become Iso." Jimmy is still haunted by what he saw in the future of him becoming a magical bad guy.

"Oh nothing like that," Jade insisted. "I just want you to try and recreate some magical talismans."

"What talismans?" Jimmy asked suspiciously.

"Oh they are based off the Chinese Zodiac and each one gives you these super cool powers!" Jade getting excited pulled out a magic book that she 'borrowed' from Uncle's library and turned to the page about the talismans.

"Why don't ask your uncle or Tohru make them?" Jimmy wondered.

"They tried but couldn't. I figured that maybe with your potential with magic plus my creativity and imagination, we might be able to succeed where they failed." Jade nudged playfully.

"And where did these talismans came from?" Jimmy starting to get really suspicious.

"From an evil demon sorcerer," Jade mumbled.

"REALLY JADE! I'm trying really hard not to become evil and you want me to perform dark magic to recreate some demon sorcerer's work!" Jimmy ranted.

"I know it looks bad but trust me, the talismans are not evil. I used them all the time to save the world. Until I had to give them up." Jade justified.

"Fine I'll do it," Jimmy conceded. Causing Jade to cheer. "But tell me, why are we friends again?" Jimmy questioned, causing Jade to feel guilty about using him like this but not enough to give up her hopes of getting the talismans back.

* * *

Later at Jimmy's house. Jimmy led Jade to his attic, there she found posters of star charts, pentagrams, magical charms, as well as several books on the subject of magic. "I knew it. I knew you were still dabbling in magic." Jade boasted.

"Yeah, yeah. Once I learned I could become a wizard I couldn't resist." Jimmy admitted as he cleaned off one of the tables he was using for an alter.

"So what do you parents say about all this?" Jade asked.

"So long as it keeps me out of their hair they don't really ask," Jimmy sighed sadly. At this point Jade didn't really press the issue. "Okay let's get this over with."

"Great, we just need to follow these instructions." Jade said showing him the book.

"You know I can't read Chinese," Jimmy reminded her.

"Right," Jade chuckled nervously. Jade spent the next hour translating the book. With Jimmy mixing the ingredients, luckily for them Jimmy has been stockpiling on weird stuff from Chinatown and just happens to have everything they needed. After mixing everything together, it made into a strange clay like substance. "Okay that should be it," Jade said after finishing translating.

"What next?" Jimmy asked. Looking at the mess he just made.

"Now we earn our arts and crafts badges and use this clay to make the new talismans." Jade said showing Jimmy the picture of the talismans. Naturally none of the talismans they made were pretty or even the right shape, but if they worked Jade would have been satisfied. "Now according to the spell we need a sample of the noble animal to empower the talisman." Jade read.

"How are we going get all that?" Jimmy asked.

"No problem, I already did." Jade said excitedly. Before Jackie returned the noble animals in Section 13 back to their rightful owners, Jade kept a few souvenirs from each and every single one of them. A few horse hairs, snake scales, chicken feathers, etc. Sure even she thought it was creepy at the time but now she's glad she did it. Placing the samples on each of the corresponding talisman, the two prepared the spell.

 _"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao"_ the pair chanted while parading around the alter holding a dried lizard and bamboo branch. As the ritual neared its end a beam of light came through the window, shining over the talismans causing them glow as if they were becoming magically charged. Jade eagerly picking one of the talismans up, attempting to use it's power but instead it just crumbled in her hand.

"Oh," Jade whined. She tried a few more but they just crumbled as well.

"Yeah I figured it wouldn't work," Jimmy commented.

"If you knew that then why did you help me?" Jade asked.

"Because I also knew you'd just bug me until I agreed to do this," Jimmy reasoned.

"No I...yeah I would," Jade admitted. Jade sighed sadly picked up the remaining talismans. "I just wish that at least one of them would work." As she said that one of the talismans in her hand started glowing again. The pair were then blinded by a flash of light! After the flash subsided Jade carefully opened her eyes. "Whoa what was that? Did I just use one of the powers?" Jade wondered carefully testing her self for any power. Levitation? No she didn't have the power of flight. Super strength? No she didn't feel any stronger. Immortality? Healing? No way to know if she has those powers without testing them, and for the first time she wasn't willing to risk her life for that. By this point she would have been satisfied with Astral Projection. "I guess it was just a dud," Jade said sadly.

"I wouldn't say that," Jimmy gulped. Pointing to something behind Jade.

Jade slowly turned around and saw a frightening figure from her past that she'd hoped was gone forever. "Oh no not you!" Jade cringed.

The figure looked almost exactly like Jade only she dark bluish skin with deep red eyes. She was also wearing same black dress that she had on before. "Yes it's me. Now tremble at the Return of the Queen of the Shadowkhan!" Dark Jade laughed.

"Not for long you evil version of me!" Jade declared pointing the Tiger talisman at her dark half in order to reunite them. Unfortunately just like with the other talismans the Tiger crumbled to dust.

"Hmm, guess that was a one time use. Oh well looks like I'm here to stay." Dark Jade mused. "Now come forth my Shadowkhan!" she summoned. Out of the shadows three ninja type shadowkhan emerged. "Now take me away," she ordered. The three shadowkhan then escorted their queen into the shadows. After they've gone, Jade and Jimmy started panicking.

"Oh no this is bad," Jade freaking out.

"I knew this was a bad idea! Why do I always listen to you?" Jimmy pacing nervously back and forth.

"Come on we've got to stop my dark half before she does something really bad!" Jade hyperventilating.

"What do you mean we? This is your mess you clean it up!" Jimmy wanting to wash his hands of his involvement.

"Your right and I should never ask you to risk your life for my mistakes," Jade smiled with sincerity.

"Alright I'll help," Jimmy groaned. He wasn't sure why but for some reason he had a hard time refusing her.

* * *

Meanwhile somewhere in the city, four youths where making their way to Uncle's Antique shop. "So what are we doing here again?" Ellen asked her brother Edgar. (The PJ Twins)

"We're here because we're on a mission," Gage reiterated with his friend Chris nodding. (Team Para-duo)

"That part I get, but what is the mission exactly?" Ellen clarified.

"Waddles said that we need to find Jade at the antique shop and reunite the two halves," Gage recalled.

"Well that narrows it down," Edgar said sarcastically. "Do you have any idea of how many antique shops there are in San Francisco sell Jade?"

"He's right," Chris agreed. "We could be searching all day not even find the correct antique shop let alone this two pieces of Jade."

"Maybe my psychic powers can help," Gage suggests.

"Ooh psychic powers," Edgar mocked. "Sorry but I think I'll use the scientific approach instead of that superstitious nonsense," Edgar taking out the portable computer that Waddles gave him. "If we cross reference famous Jade that have been broken in two then maybe we can narrow it down."

"Anything brother?" Ellen asked impatiently.

"Nope, every antique store has some jade for sale but nothing about a two piece set." Edgar grumbled.

"So much for the scientific approach," Gage laughed.

"Oh I'd like to see you do better," Edgar shot back.

"Fine, let's try this store." Gage suggested pointing to the nearest one. As the group entered the antique shop Gage felt a wave of spiritual energy hitting him making him a bit woozy.

"Are you alright?" Chris asked supporting his friend.

"I'm fine, it's just that there is a lot of history and a lot of spirits here." Gage explained. Ever since he was a child Gage Allen has been able to sense the paranormal like ghosts. At first he thought he was just imagining them but soon he found out that they were real. Mainly because they helped him with his history homework even teaching him things that are not in school books. Making him a teacher's pet. While this helped him excel academically it also made him a social outcast. His only friend is Chris.

Chris Savon was a natural athlete and quickly started down the path of becoming a stereotypical bully. Breezing through classes and getting passing grades in order to allow him to continue playing sports. However he was inspired by those PSA commercials about professional athletes telling kids to stay in school and study hard, Chris decided to start take his studies a little more seriously. Naturally his first move was to bully the teacher's pet Gage in to being his tutor, which Gage reluctantly accepted. At first Chris thought that Gage was messing with him telling him that ghosts are the ones helping him with his school work but Chris humored him, mainly because he still needed help with his lessons, and soon found out that it was all true especially after their encounter with Sin.

Sin was a sinister cult of psycho psychics trying to bring about the ruining of the world by harnessing the powers of the Seven Deadly Sins. They accidentally kidnapped Chris, mistaking him for Gage, in order to sacrifice him and his psychic powers to Pandora's Box. Fortunately Gage with the help of some of his ghostly allies were able to rescue Chris stopping the ritual in time. However their actions also caused Pandora's Box to break into 8 pieces, each one containing the essence of one of the Sins. Seven members of the cult managed to escape with a piece of the box, with Gage obtaining the 8th piece containing 'Hope'. With Hope enhancing his psychic powers, he and Chris vowed to hunt down the remaining members of Sin in order to rebuild the box and seal the darkness once again. Which is why they agreed to join W.A.D.D.L.E.S. in the first place.

"Welcome to Uncle's Antique shop my I help you?" This huge man greeted the kids.

"Uh yes we're in the market for some Jade," Ellen faking a British accent in order to pretend to be a collector.

"Ah yes we have a fine selection of Jade statues and jewelry," Tohru directing them to their stock of Jade merchandise.

"Very nice but we're looking for a special piece. A type of Jade said to come in two halves." Ellen requested.

"I'm not sure we have anything like that," Tohru scratching his head in confusion.

"Oh that's too bad," Ellen sighed.

"Quite right, we were oh so willing to spend lots of money for that set." Edgar added with a snobbish attitude.

"Uh if you're willing to wait awhile my Sensei might know what you're talking about. He's at the museum right now but he'll be back soon." Tohru pleaded, not wanting to lose a chance at a sale.

"Sorry but we're very busy"

"We'll wait!" Gage suddenly said holding his hand out above the antiques.

"What?" Everyone looked at him in confusion.

"Sorry but my sixth sense is telling me that this is where we have to be," Gage explained.

"Oh no not more magic stuff," Tohru groaned just when he was starting to enjoy the peace and quiet. Now everyone is looking at him in confusion.

Just then Jade and Jimmy came bursting into the store. "Torhu help we got trouble!"

"What did you do this time?" Tohru groaned. To be honest he's been expecting this for quite some time now.

"What makes you think it's my fault?" Jade chuckled nervously. Everyone eyed her suspiciously. That's when Gage noticed something strange about her.

"Wait a minute," Gage holding his palm in front of her face.

"Um excuse me," Jade not liking her personal space being violated.

"You're missing half your soul," Gage suddenly said.

"Ha ha, that's ridiculous." Again Jade chuckled nervously avoiding eye contact. "I'm missing half of my chi actually," Jade corrected him.

"Jade, what did you do?" Tohru said with a stern serious voice. Seeing as there was no point in hiding it, Jade told them about her and Jimmy's attempt to recreate the talismans and how they were only able to make the tiger that split her into her good and evil halves. "Jade how could you," Tohru sounding very disappointed but at the same time not too surprised by all this. "We need to tell Sensei and Jackie about this," Tohru suggested.

"I'm sorry Tohru, please don't tell uncle Jackie! He'll ground me for a year!" Jade pleaded.

"So the two Jades we're suppose to reunite isn't some fancy stone but this girl?" Ellen said with amazement.

"Looks that way. Then again, the pig wasn't exactly clear on the details." Edgar pointed out.

"And who are you all exactly?" Jade asked finally noticing the other kids in the shop.

"We're special agents sent by a talking pig to solve general weirdness," Ellen said showing her pig badge.

Jade eyed them suspiciously. "Works for me," Jade finally said. After all the weird things the J-Team has been through, their story actually sounds plausible.

* * *

Meanwhile in an old abandoned warehouse, once used by the Dark Hand as a secret headquarters, Dark Jade the Queen of the Shadowkhan was facing a dilemma. "Argh why can't I summon more than just three shadowkhan!" Dark Jade screamed. After testing her abilities, Dark Jade found that she is capable of summoning all the different types of shadowkhan, but can only summon a maximum of three at a time. "I used to be able to summon dozens, and now that I can summon from all nine tribes I should have been able to conquer the world by now. So why am I so weak?" Dark Jade pondered. Naturally the mindless shadowkhans merely shrugged. Dark Jade was about to dispel them in frustration, when she noticed that one of them was a Crab Khan type. That reminded her of when she and Valmont had half an oni mask and therefore could only summon half a shadowkhan. "I'm only half a person. That's why I'm so weak!" Dark Jade realized. "That means in order for me to be at full strength I need to merge with my blech good half." Dark Jade gagged, not liking the idea of rejoining with her other self. Especially since it means most likely that her good half will gain control of their body. "Unless I can find something else to fill the void," Dark Jade considered. "But what?" she asked her shadowkhan again not really expecting any response. The Shadowkhans all stared blankly back at her. "I didn't think so," Dark Jade sighed.

Just then the Ninja Khan reached behind his back and pulled out a newspaper and handed it to his queen. "What's this?" Dark Jade looked through the newspaper and found an article about some treasures from Japan that are being brought to San Francisco museum. "Hmm, the Akuma Jyo no shinzo, The Demon Queen's heart? A giant black pearl said to be the dark heart of a demon queen after a noble samurai cut it out of her chest. Legend has it that the pearl has dark powers." After Dark Jade read the article an idea formed in her head. "If I get that jewel then I will be all powerful," Dark Jade smiled. "Alright minions make with the ninja stuff and steal me that pearl!" Dark Jade ordered. The ShadowKhans all nodded and were about to leave when their queen called out the them. "Wait a minute. On second thought I'll come with you just to make sure you don't screw up." Dark Jade decided. Since Dark Jade is unable to travel by the shadows the Shadowkhan had to carry through.

* * *

"Are you sure she went this way?" Jade asked walking down the streets of San Francisco along with Jimmy, Tohro, the PJ Twins, and the Para-duo.

"My locator spell says that your evil have is in this general direction," Tohru said holding a stuff toy of Mighty Moose with some of Jade's hair embedded in it, pointing in the direction towards the museum.

"Um so how exactly are we going to deal with Jade 2.0?" Jimmy asked since he's not really accustom to fighting the forces of evil.

"Hey!" Jade objecting to her evil half being referred to as the superior.

"Don't worry I mixed up the potion we used to remove the mark of Tarakudo from Jade the first time around. With any luck this should strip Jade 2.0 of her power to summon shadowkhans." Tohru showing everyone the potion.

"And if that doesn't work we go to plan B," Edgar chuckled patting his satchel. Eager to use his latest inventions along with some of the stuff he 'borrowed' from PHQ.

"Hey don't count us out. We happen to have a way of dealing with situations like this. Right pal." Chris gently nudged Gage who for some reason seems rather reluctant to talk about it. Leaving everyone curious. As they entered the museum, all the alarms went off and the exits blocked off.

"I guess she's here," Jade joked.

* * *

A few minutes earlier the Shadowkhan traveled by shadow on the floors and on the walls on the museum, completely undetected by either the visitors or by security. After they reached the Japanese exhibit they emerged from the shadows. Taking a second to examine their target, the Shadowkhan then smashed the display and took the jewel and presented it to their queen. Triggering all the alarms in the museum.

In another part of the museum, Jackie and Uncle were busy studying the artifacts. "What was that?" Jackie Chan said after the alarms went off.

"What are you talking about!?" Uncle retorted slapping Jackie on the forehead. "The place is being robbed! So you better find the thief! Wooooowhoa." Uncle started jittering.

"What is wrong Uncle?" Jackie asked getting a bad feeling.

"Uncle got the willies," Uncle gulped.

Quickly making his way to the Japanese exhibit Jackie spotted four Shadowkhans; a Ninja Khan, Crab Khan, a Squid Khan, and one more. "No Jade, what did you do this time?" Jackie gasped recognizing the Queen of the Shadowkhan.

"Oh hi Uncle Jackie, I forgot you'd be here." Dark Jade hissed. In retrospect she's starting to wish she that she had been more stealthy since she wasn't ready for this confrontation. On the other hand this might be a perfect opportunity to test the Akuma Jyo no shinzo. Just in case it doesn't work, she gathered her shadowkhans around her a hasty retreat. Quickly putting it on Dark Jade felt the surge of power going through her. "Come forth my shadowkhan!" Dark Jade summoned. Soon dozens of different types of shadowkhans came flooding into the room.

"Jackie what is going on here?" Uncle demanded until he saw the army of shadowkhans and who was directing them. "Aiiee-yaaaahh! Jackie you need to discipline your niece!" Uncle scolded slapping Jackie on the head.

"Yeah I'll get right on that," Jackie said sarcastically. "Jade stop what you're doing or no TV for the rest of the school year!" Jackie threatened.

"Oh not the whole school year," Good Jade whined.

"I'm sorry Jade but...JADE!" Jackie jumped seeing the Good Jade standing next to him while the Dark Jade was over with the Shadowkhan. "What is going on here? Never mind I don't think I want to know." Jackie sighed. You'd think he'd be used to things like this by now.

"Long story," Tohru said as he came up to Jackie.

"Whoa now this is a party," Chris gulped. He had seen some weird stuff since he started hanging around Gage, and an army of shadow ninjas would definitely be in the top five.

"Tohru I thought I told you to watch the shop!" Uncle scolded.

"But Sensei I brought the potion to stop Jade," Tohru explained.

"Very good, I knew you'd make a good ap- Chi Wizard." Uncle praised. He was about to say apprentice but he just remembered that Tohru became a full wizard after their battle with Drago. "Quickly, we must move quickly to remove Jade's power," Uncle instructed.

"Not this time! Shadowkhan protect your Queen!" Dark Jade commanded.

"Bad day, bad day, bad day!" Jackie cursed as he engaged the Shadowkhan while at the same time, trying to keep from destroying the priceless artifacts from being destroyed. Fighting along side him Tohru, mainly going against the the Sumo and Samurai type khans, and Chris who's been taking karate classes for just such emergencies. While he can't take on as many as Jackie or Tohru can, Chris is able to hold his own against a couple Khans.

"Looks like it's time of Old Bertha," Edgar chuckled pulling out a huge gun that he cobbled together from junk. Just then Uncle slapped the boy on the forehead. "Ow what was that for?" Edgar demanded.

"Don't you know anything? Magic must defeat magic!" Uncle lectured using his blowfish to zap the Khans attacking him. Over to the side Uncle witness Jimmy using some minor spells to fight back against the Shadowkhan as well. "You see he gets it," Uncle said.

"I'd take that as a challenge," Edgar smiled. Aiming Big Bertha at the Shadowkhan, Edgar shot a large blasts that dispelled several Shadowkhan. Much to Uncle's amazement. "Don't you know anything? Mad science defeats everything!" Edgar boasted imitating Uncle's accent.

"Well I can't let you have all the fun brother," Ellen said pulling out these strange vials filled with some glowing liquid. Ellen then threw the vials at the Shadowkhans around Dark Jade. As the liquid seeped into the floor these two giant mutant plants burst out of the ground and proceeded to devour the Shadowkhans. "My new experimental growth formula, now with 20% more toxic waste." Ellen speaking like if she was in a commercial.

"And I thought the creepy ninja things were scary!" Edgar shuttered. Oh how he hated his sisters plants.

"Uncle what is going on? I thought you said science can't beat magic." Jackie asked not sure at what's happening.

"Those two aren't just using mere science. They are using Alchemy." Uncle explained.

"Alchemy? You mean that superstitious nonsense about turning lead into gold?" Jackie ridiculed.

"Not superstition!" Uncle scolded. "Alchemy is a type of European magic often mistaken for science that was believed to be a lost art, and those two children are masters of it." Uncle with with awe and admiration.

The battle was pretty much a stand off. The Shadowkhans just kept coming, and there where too many guarding Dark Jade for them to get close enough to use the potion. "Go ahead, take out at many of my Shadowkhans as you can. I can always summon more!" Dark Jade said as she called on more Shadowkhan to replace the ones she lost.

"Running low on ammo here!" Edgar warned as he reloaded Big Bertha with his last clip.

"And my plants are getting trimmed!" Ellen cried seeing her precious plants being sliced by the onslaught of Shadowkhans.

"She's right, we need to find a way to thin their numbers." Chris realized as he karate chopped a Mantis Khan. That's when he noticed that Gage was staring at one of the displays. "Hey buddy if you're going to do your magic I suggest you do it fast!" Chris yelled to his friend.

"This artifact calls to me," Gage smiled as he smashed the display and reached for what seems like old samurai sword.

"You can't take that! That's an important artifact belonging to the Benkei!" Jackie protested.

"The sword is not important," Gage said as he pulled out a small piece of cloth. "This will give us victory."

"How's that?" Everyone except Chris wondered. He's seen Gage in action enough to know to never question it.

"This headband is telling me its tale," Gage explained putting it on his head. "It tells me that it once belonged to Momotaro!"

"Momotaro," Tohru gasped with aw.

"Who?" Good Jade asked.

"Momotaro, the Peach boy, the legendary samurai who defeated the Oni hundreds of years ago. My mommy always told he his tale every night before bedtime. He was always a personal hero of mine." Tohru said with great admiration.

"And with this I call upon him to protect the world again!" Reaching into his pocket, Gage channeled the power of Hope to aid him in not only summoning Momotaro's spirit through the headband but to allow the legendary samurai to enter his body, granting Gage his skill and power. Not only that but the Hope fragment also turned into a replica of Momotaro's sword.

"He is a spirit medium," Uncle realized.

"A what?" Jackie asked.

"Mediums are people who not only speak to spirits but can allow them to possess their bodies gaining their strength and skills." Uncle explained.

Gage, now armed and empowered with Momotaro's abilities, charges at the Shadowkhans, dispelling several shadowkhans with a single slice. Advancing forward it seems like nothing can stop him. He was getting rid of the shadowkhans faster than Dark Jade could summon them, and pretty soon found himself standing right in front of the little Oni Queen. "At an end your rule is, and not short enough it was!" Gage said with Momotaro's voice. As he swung at Dark Jade, not to kill her mind you just to knock her out so that they can use the potion on her, his blade suddenly stopped just short of striking her. "No I can't!" Gage/Momotaro cried. "I cannot strike one so beautiful!"

"Huh?" everyone said in confusion.

"Oh right in some versions of the tale Momotaro falls in love with the Oni Princess and it is their marriage that ends the war between our races. Some say that samurais are the descendants of the human/oni crossbreeds." Tohru explained.

"Aiiee-yaaaahh! You mean we lost our chance because of that dribble?" Uncle cursed.

"Aw that is so sweet," Dark Jade cooed. "And so Disney, too bad you're not my type." Dark Jade snuffed as she pushed Gage back with a magical wind. As Gage slammed on the ground Momotaro's headband came off breaking his connection with the ancient warrior. "Will anyone else like to try and be a hero?" Dark Jade challenged summoning even more shadowkhans.

"How about me? Or is it you? Us?" Good Jade said suddenly appearing behind Dark Jade, startling everyone.

"How did she?" Jackie stuttered. "Oh never mind."

Good Jade then tackled her evil half and the two started wrestling on the ground. While they were fighting Good Jade managed to get the Akuma Jyo no shinzo off of her evil half, causing all the shadowkhans to disappear.

"Now's our chance!" Uncle said as he started chanting. Tohru recognizing the spell started chanting as well, along with Jimmy also who joined in. This spell started to weaken Dark Jade allowing Good Jade to be able to pin her down. "Hurry I don't know how long I can hold her!" Good Jade struggled to hold her evil half down.

Jackie was about to pour the potion on Dark Jade but stopped. "Jackie what are you waiting for? Use the potion remove the tattoo!" Uncle commanded.

"But Uncle, there's no tattoo!" Jackie informed him.

"WHAT?!" everyone gasped. Breaking Uncle, Tohru, and Jimmy's concentration on the spell.

With her powers no longer suppressed, Dark Jade managed to push her good half off of her and quickly started examining her leg where she had the Tarakudo mark only to see that it was no longer there. "Well what do you know, I guess I'm full Oni now." Dark Jade laughed. "Since none of you know how to make oni masks there's no way you can stop me. Soon I will take over the world!"

"Why would you want to do that?" a tiny voice asked.

"Huh?' Dark Jade turned to see Jimmy. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying that ruling the world is a lot of work and responsibility. You have to provide food, negotiate trade, building projects, establish laws, appoint officials to oversee your territories, enforce laws, collect taxes. You're going to be so busy that you'll never have any time for fun." Jimmy pointed out.

"You're lying, and even if it is true, I can have an army of obedient shadowkhans to do the work for me!" Dark Jade argued but is clearly started to sweat.

"Yeah that won't work," Ellen said. "Look I was president of my school and let me tell you having a bunch of mindless drones only means that you'll have to micromanage everything. It's just one headache after another. Trust me sister, take if from someone who's been there and done that, it's much more fun to fight the power than to be the power."

"Well I uh maybe I could" Dark Jade stuttering not really sure what it is she wants to do. "Just get me out of here!" Dark Jade commanded. Three Ninja Khans appeared and took their queen into the shadows. Giving the heroes a chance to breath a sigh of relief.

"That was some quick thinking there Jimmy," Tohru praised.

"Yes well if there is one constant in the universe it is that you can always count on Jade's laziness and irresponsibility." Jimmy joked but still looked uneasy about something.

"That's right!" Jade said beaming with pride. "Hey!" she later objected.

"Um also those were some pretty good chi spells you used during the fight," Tohru praised. "If you want"

"No!" Jimmy yelled, startling the giant man. "Sorry but I don't think magic is for me," Jimmy said sadly.

"Is it because of Iso?" Tohru asked.

"Not just him, I also started this mess when I made the Tiger Talisman." Jimmy cried.

"Look Jimmy I know you're afraid and believe me I know how it feels to be uncertain about your future," Tohru sighed.

"How could you possible know?" Jimmy asked.

"It's not something I'm proud of but once I was part of a criminal organization called the Dark Hand. I did a lot of bad things, I even tried to kill Jade and her family and her family many times over." Tohru confessed.

"So how did you ended up with them?" Jimmy asked.

"I was given a second chance," Tohru said proudly.

"Why are you telling me this?" Jimmy asked.

"Well just like how the Chans gave me a second chance, I'd like to give you one as well. Well technically first chance since it was your older future self that turned evil but I still have faith in you." Tohru getting tongue tied about time travel. "What I'm mean is, if you're willing, I'd still take you as my apprentice." Tohru offered.

"Thank you sensei," Jimmy smiled.

"I hate to interrupt this happy moment, but what are we going to do about Jade 2.0?" Ellen asked.

"She is so not 2.0," Jade grumbled.

"We should inform Captain Black about this," Jackie suggested.

* * *

Later at Section 13 headquarters.

"Ah Jackie, I was just about to call you." Captain Black greeted as he saw the Chans and guest arriving. "Jackie do I really need to remind you about security protocol?"

"Sorry Captain Black but we have a situation," Jackie tried to explain.

"Fine but first can you please tell me what's up with this?" Black pointed to Dark Jade sitting at his office with her feet up on his desk.

"Hey guys," Dark Jade greeted in a friendly tone.

"Jade! What are you doing here?" Jackie demanded.

"Taking your advise. Oh and please call me Jyo." Dark Jade (now named Jyo) showing them the new name tag she made with dark magic.

"Joe? Isn't that a boy's name?"? Jade pointed out.

"Actually it's not Joe but Jyo," Tohru clarified reading her name tag. "It's Japanese for queen."

"Figures," Jade scoffed.

"Anyway Jade, I mean, Jyo came here earlier with a trio of Shadowkhan claiming she wants to reform and work for Section 13." Black explained.

"You're not going to let her stay are you? She can't be trusted!" Jade argued mainly because she didn't want her evil half to have her dream job.

"I agree with Jade this is a bad idea," Jackie said.

"I know but you know the old saying: 'Keep you friends close and your enemies closer'. This way we can keep an eye on her until you guys find a way to reunite the two halves." Black justified. "Besides we can't really arrest her, she hasn't done anything wrong."

"What about stealing and trashing the museum?" Jade pointed out.

"True but technically she is a minor and therefore the only punishment we can administer is community service. So for the time being Jyo is an employee of Section 13." Black declared.

"Oh man," Jade cursed.

"Oh yeah seeing that face makes taking this job all worth while," Jyo laughing at her good half's expense.

"But how are you going to keep her under control? We can barely keep the good one out of trouble." Jackie wondered.

"Hey!" Jade objected.

"That's why our boys at the R&D came up with that collar she now wearing." Jyo showing off her collar like if it was a diamond necklace. "It's filled with onion, garlic, and leek concentrate that we can spray at her with a press of the remote. It also has a GPS tracker in it." Black explained.

"Oni are only weak against onions," Jackie reminded him.

"I know but I want to cover our bases," Black whispered. "In addition she will be staying in the vault which is being sprayed with onion juice to keep her from escaping."

"Not that I'm planning to," Jyo reiterated.

"I guess this way we'd at least know where Jade I mean Jyo is at all times." Jackie sighed. He may not like this arrangement but it is the only option he has right now.

* * *

Meanwhile at **N.I.C.E.** meeting hall.

"Why hasn't the scale moved?" Shendu demanded.

"It would appear that Jyo's decision to use her dark magic for good has a bit of a cancelling effect in the grand scheme of the universe." Toffee commented.

"In other word that hot headed iguana failed again," Hannibal laughed.

"Indeed, I no longer see any reason why we would need any more of your services," the mastermind stated.

"Wait I know from experience that the girl is pretty much a chaotic factor!" Shendu pleaded.

"Meaning what exactly?"

"Well Jyo is still technically an Oni and we all know that no matter how hard we try our dark nature always wins out in the end. Right now she's within Section 13 who has been giving trouble to some of our other operations. So to quote Tarakudo: we now have a man, or in this case, a girl on the inside." Shendu said nervously.

"You make a compelling argument," the mastermind considered this. "Very well let us see how this turns out."

"You got lucky brother, but your luck won't hold out forever." Tso Lan warned Shendu who was just happy that he still has a seat in the council.

* * *

Over at PHQ

 _"Well this is disturbing,"_ Waddles thought as he checked the scale for the third time.

"How is that possible that it didn't move?" Rose wondered.

 _"Jade has always been a chaotic factor. Not only is she believed to be the reincarnation of a holy monk, she is also destine to be the Queen of the Oni. This twin destiny is the reason why I couldn't recruit such a promising young individual._ " Waddles stated.

"Perhaps her splitting into two is the universe's way of having her fulfill both her destinies." Rose reasoned.

 _"Either way I need to keep a close eye on her."_ Waddles then typed something down on his computer and then handed a disc to Rose. _"This is my report to the Senate. Can you please see this delivered to them?"_ Waddles requested.

"Sure but why not present it yourself?" Rose asked.

 _"Because I have some damage control I need to take care of,"_ Waddles thought as the Dimensional train returned with all the agents. They all looked exhausted, not only physically but emotionally and spiritually as well. Rose knew that Waddles is going to have to help pull his team through this ordeal if they are to be ready for future missions.

"I'll leave you to it then," Rose said as she disappeared in pink light.

"Welcoom back my Agents," Waddles typed on his scooter computer.

* * *

A few days later at Jimmy's house.

Jimmy was at his desk reading some magic books that Tohru gave him. Suddenly he got the willies! Turning around he spotted Jyo laying on his bed. "What are you doing here? How did you even get out of Section 13 past curfew?" Jimmy demanded.

"Oh please I've been sneaking in and out of Section 13 ever since I moved here." Jyo bragged. "I just wanted to see how my favorite Chi Wizard is doing."

"I'm not a wizard," Jimmy said.

"Not yet, but I have faith in you," Jyo smiled.

"Faith in me or in Iso?" Jimmy said bluntly.

"Oh no you misunderstand. I don't want Iso, I want you to be my personal chi wizard." Jyo explained.

"your personal wizard?" Jimmy getting confused.

"Just like how Jackie has Uncle and Jade has Tohru, I want my own wizard and that is you." Jyo said playfully.

"And if I refuse?" Jimmy asked.

"You won't," Jyo said confidently.

"You know I'm going to put you and Jade back together. I made the tiger talisman once and I can do it again." Jimmy swore.

"Not anytime soon," Jade said pulling a book out of the shadows. "I borrowed this from another wizard named Daolong Wong and according to this, not only do you need the right spell but the talismans can only be made during a certain cosmic alignment. Which only happens once a year for each of the animals in the Chinese Zodiac, and frankly you don't know enough about Chinese mythology to calculate when the alignments will occur. It's a miracle that you not only manage to make a tiger talisman without the proper alignment, but it's not even the year of the tiger. I guess that's why your talisman was defective. So I really doubt you'd be able to pull off another fluke like that again." Jyo laughed.

"I'll still find a way," Jimmy swore.

"You know it's that kind of determination that I like. See you soon and I hope that I'll be able to change your mind about my proposal when you become a full wizard." Jyo blew him a kiss before summoning a shadowkhan to take her back to Section 13.

After she left, Jimmy tossed the magic book into the trash. Sure it may be full of valuable information, but he didn't want to risk that Jyo might have tampered with it somehow. Jimmy then when up to the attic where he had to hold his nose before entering. After finding out that Jyo is a full oni, Jimmy took precautions. For the past few days he's been hanging onions and garlic all over the walls as well as putting a circle of salt in order to keep dark forces out of his attic. Needless to say that the stench also made going in the attic a bit unbearable for humans as well. Jimmy went over to the alter where he and Jade tried to make the talismans and instead of 12 poorly made clay hexagons, there were 12 small crystal orbs about the size of golf balls.

"You're right Jyo, I don't know enough about the Chinese Zodiac to remake the talismans," Jimmy said to himself before looking at a star chart. "Fortunately for me there is another Zodiac set that I am more familiar with, and unlike the Chinese Zodiac, they come into alignment once a month. Jimmy chanted his spell and a light came down from the window shining on the orbs. Then one of the orbs started to levitate and inside the orb the constellation of a crab form. The image of the constellation then started swirling around until it became the symbol of Cancer. Jimmy reached out and touched the orb. "Just like how the crab disguises itself by changing its shell, the talisman of Cancer will grant the power of shape shifting!" Jimmy chanted. The orb then started glowing and Jimmy started turning into different animals before returning to human form. After testing it Jimmy placed the orb back down with the others.

"One down eleven more to go," Jimmy sighed. Looking at the star charts he paid special attention to the Gemini constellation, the one power he truly needed, the power of Ying and Yang. The only thing that could possibly restore Jade back to her normal self; and as luck would have it he missed the last cycle. Which means it will be almost a whole year before the Gemini comes into alignment again. "I only hope I can keep this a secret from Jyo until then," Jimmy sighed as he exited the attic.


	9. Mission Debriefing

_"I have some damage control,"_ Waddles thought watching the Dimension Train pull back into PHQ. All of the agents looked dejected and exhausted both physically and emotionally. His dear friend and fellow senator Rose Quartz nodded in understanding before fading in a glow of pink light. "Welcome back my Agents," Waddles typed on his keyboard. However the Agents were so distraught by what they saw, what they did, and what they failed to accomplish that they had no words to say to him. Foreseeing this Waddles had prepared something special for all of them. "Now before we get to the formality of mission breifing, as congrats for completing your frist assignments, I've prepared a little party for you." Waddles typed, firing some confetti from his scooter. He then directed their attention to a table filled with all kinds of delicacies including Irken foods, which Zim eagerly grabbed. Naturally feeling hungry after their ordeals they all started to chow down. All except for one.

Fillmore didn't say a word since his return or even during the ride back. Much to the concern of his partner Ingrid. His thoughts were on everything he witness while he was at Miracle City. Calmly and silently he picked up a plate full of his favorite foods, then without even taking a single bite even though he was hungry, Fillmore ritualistically placed it in the trash. "Sorry but I don't feel like celebrating," he said calmly before taking his leave. Losing their appetites, the rest followed in suit and dumped their food in the trash bin as well. With the exception of Zim who happily continued eating. Waddles sighed sadly while trying to hide his smile at the same time. Even though he hates the idea of wasting food, on the other hand, the trash can is also his second dinner plate. So more for him.

After giving them a few minutes to collect themselves with some rest and relaxation, Waddles called everyone to the mission hall for their debriefing. Slowly they all came in and took their seats. Going around the room, the Agents gave their report on how each of their missions went. Lee told them how they were able to find the unnamed arsonist but she managed to escape. Riley begged her teammates and brother not to tell anyone about Nyx, wanting to help her somehow without getting her into too much trouble. Unaware that Waddles already knows about her. Next Dib tried to tell what occurred over at Miracle City; but Zim kept on interjected wanting to spout about how awesome his the alien tech was compared to Frida's suit and how inferior humans was no match for him. Marco tried his best to explain what happened at the Northwest Mansion, but had a hard time since he didn't really understand what was going on. Janna not being much help and only saying how much she enjoyed her trip there. Finally Gage gave his report about Jade and Jyo with Edgar and Ellen denouncing any sort of magical happenings. The twins insisting that there's always a scientific explanation for everything and that there is no such thing as magic, despite what they had witnessed. Waddles remained quiet during the proceedings, carefully recording and cataloging everything they were saying. After they finished Waddles looked through the reports. "Well my agents all things concidered I'd have to say that you've all performed admirably." Waddles praised.

"Doesn't feel like it," Todd said noting the sour mood all around.

"Yeah we couldn't stop Ny, I mean that girl from escaping!" Riley catching herself not wanting to rat Nyx out yet.

"I can't say I was any useful. I mean Pacifica and Dipper pretty much had the situation under control. Don't even know why I was even there." Marco pouted.

"And we couldn't help Jade and Jyo. The two of them are still separate entities." Gage added.

"Don't worry, I already have designs for a machine that will merge them together." Edgar boasted.

"Really?" Ellen teased.

"No," Edgar admitted. "But I am close!" he insisted. While he did have several theories; after doing the math he realized that none of them would work. However his pride won't allow him to accept that magic can do things his science can't.

"Yes well ZIM! Would have had better success if you disgusting incompetent Earthers didn't keep getting in my way!" Zim gagged before realizing that everyone was staring at him. "I mean I'm human and I love the Earth!" Zim yelled thinking that he brilliantly saved himself.

"You've been very quite during this proceedings. Don't you have anything to add?" Waddles directed his question towards Fillmore who didn't say a single word and looked as if he was in deep thought.

"I was just wondering, is there a point to all of this?" Fillmore said. Everyone looking at him curiously. "Like everyone said in their reports, most of these issues could have or even would have been resolved on their own. So is there really a purpose in us going on these missions or even for this organization to exist?"

Everyone then turned to Waddles, who despite having a cute face, looked very much deep in thought. "More than you can possibly imagine." Waddles typed. Everyone looked at the pig curiously. Pressing a button on his scooter he replayed the fire scene that Nyx started. "If you guys weren't there, hundreds of innocent people would have been injured or worst, and not only from this building but others as well if you hadn't chased Nyx away; and yes I know all about your friend there. While I understand that you want to help your friend, turning your heads the other way is not going to do it." Waddles lectured. Todd and Riley both lowered their heads in shame.

Next Waddles replayed the battle against Jyo and her Shadowkhans. "True that Jackie Chan and his Uncle were more than capable of handling the situation, but your assistance did help save several ancient treasures. Not only that it was thanks to you that you manage to convince Jyo to give up her world conquest. Thus giving us time to find a way to cure her."

Waddles then showed them the images of Marco fighting monsters both with Star and at the Northwest mansion. "Marco I sent to the mansion as a learning experience. So you can see that you don't need to hide behind Star's magic all the time." Waddles explained.

"I don't hide behind Star's magic!" Marco protested.

"Oh really," Janna teased. Typing on the keyboard in front of her, showing videos she recorded of all the times when Marco is in a bind and begging Star for help.

"Okay maybe just a little," Marco admitted. "But in my defense those were monsters!"

"Dipper and Pacifica have neither Star's magic nor your martial arts training, yet that doesn't stop them from facing nightmares. Some of which would make the monsters you face seem like jokes." Waddles pointed out. Marco lowered his head in shame, and for the first time, Janna didn't feel like teasing him.

The final video was of Frida in her Ruby Rockstar suit. "Fillmore, if you hadn't deduce where Frida was at the time, she would have gone on a rampage. Destroying everything in her path, building, streets, and even innocent people, in a misguided attempt to win her friend back. So you see, even though you guys didn't play a major role. You still all played an important part." Waddles lectured. Fillmore still seemed unconvinced. "Unless of course this isn't about the mission?" Waddles deduced from the entangling emotions he's sensing from Fillmore.

Fillmore hesitated to say anything, but knew that it might just eat him up if he bottled up everything inside. "No, it's not the mission it was the city." Fillmore finally confessed. Everyone looked at him confusingly. "Like the slogan said, Miracle City is a cesspool of crime and villainy, but the worst thing is that the people there seemed proud of that fact. They don't even seem to care if they are robbed or mugged in broad daylight. They actually to prefer criminals over the cops. Ever since I became a Safety Patrol I always tried to believe that everyone has some good in them. That deep down they want to do the right thing; but after seeing an entire city degrading down to...I just don't know. It makes me wonder if humanity on a whole is even worth saving." Fillmore sighed. Silence followed since none were sure how to console him. Not even his partner and best friend.

"Yes humanity is stupid," Zim said breaking the silence. "Which is why you should let a superior race rule over you. I mean us, because I'm human too!" Zim jerked.

"Oh give it a rest, we all know you're an alien." Janna said winking at Zim.

"Yup." "That's right." "It's pretty obvious." The others nodding in agreement. Zim's jaw dropped in shock that he's been discovered that he didn't even notice that one of his fake eye contact lens fell off.

"Ha! Busted!" Dib cheered. Grinning with anticipation of finally being able to crucify his long time hated adversary.

"Zim's origins aside," Waddles interrupted. "Do you truly believe humanity is worthless?" Waddles asked. Fillmore stayed silent. "As a pig I can't really say that I care too much about humans in general but I do care about the future of the Earth. Like it or not, the fate of the planet has and always will be in the hands of humans. Which is why I selected you all to be part of this team." Waddles started showing footage of everyone one of them in action.

"Each of you has showing an incredible amount of skill, physical ability, and intelligence that has allowed you to overcome difficulties. Now I'm not going to say that you are always going to be successful in your missions, nor will I things will gert any easier or that you'll like what you see. All I can promise you is that every time I send you out there, it is to prevent a major catastrophe." Waddles assured them.

"What catastrophe would that be?" Ingrid asked. "I believe we're entitled to know." The others starting giving their full attention.

"I wish I could tell you but the truth is I don't know what it is." Waddles admitted. "All I know is that some very powerful beings have been gathering their their forces as well a recruiting new members. All clues indicate that they are planning something big."

"So why us? Why not get some superheroes to take care of it?" Todd asked.

"Because they can't. Superheroes are only allowed to defend, not attack. The superhero charter states that heroes cannot prevent crimes. They're only allowed to assist in stop crimes after the deed is done. The purpose of this team is to seek out potential problems and resolve them before they become a world ending threat." Waddles explained.

"So our job was to prevent Nyx, Frida, Catherine, and Jyo from becoming full time supervillains?" Marco guessed. Waddles nodded confirming it.

"Since all you've guys let your targets escape," Ellen hinting at.

"While we got Jyo to reform," Edgar grinned.

"That means technically we're the only ones who succeeded so we're in the lead!" Ellen cheered high fiving her brother. They also tried to high five Gage and Chris but both boys left them hanging seeing this in bad taste. Causing the twins to scowl at them.

"This is not a competition," Waddles lectured. "Besides while Jyo is currently working with Section 13, she's still an oni and could possible turned full evil at any moment. So your mission is still imcomplete until you merge Jyo with Jade. back together."

"Spoilsport," Edgar griped with Ellen sticking her tongue out at the pig.

"Joking aside I hope that this gives you an idea of what we're up against and the stakes involved." Waddles said to his team. "However if your commitment has wavered because of this, you are free to quit as Dipper and Pacifica did. Like them, I have prepared some thank you gifts for your services." Waddles offered looking directly at Fillmore.

"Can we still have time to think about it?" Fillmore requested. A few minutes later a whistle sounded.

"Looks like the weekend is up, time for you all to return home," Waddles informed them. Directing them back to the Dimensional train. "I know this is a lot to take in so I'll give you until next weekend. If you agree to be part of my team just head to the train station after school Friday; but if you decide to decline, press the recall button on your badges and it will be teleported directly here." The left ear on the pig badges started glowing, indicating that it's the recall button. "But please do it before the weekend. That way I can find suitavle replacements."

The agents all said their goodbyes and entered the Dimensional Train. Waddles watched as the train zoomed away taking his agents back to their homes. "I guess it's time for me to head back as well," Waddles thought to himself. That's when he noticed that the agents forgot to clean the mess left from the party. "Really should have considered hiring a pair of janitors for agents," Waddles sighed until he smelled the food festering in the trash can. "On the plus side more leftovers for me!"

* * *

Pleasant Hills

Todd and Riley made their way back home when all of a sudden someone or someones threw a black hood over their heads and dragged them off to a secret location. Due to them having a super spy mom they have been kidnapped and held hostage on a regular basis so they were surprisingly calm in this situation. A few minutes later the hoods were removed and the two found themselves in a dark room with a light shining right in their eyes making it hard to see anything.

 _"All right I know that this so called Junior Executive meeting was a fake. So talk where did you actually go?"_ This person using a voice modifier interrogated.

 _"Hey honey, this is so cool,"_ another altered voice said. _"Luke I am you father."_ the voice laughed, pretty much confirming Todd and Riley's suspicions on who abducted them.

"You can cut the act mom and dad," Riley said with an annoyed tone. Knowing that the jig is up, Agent K turned the lights back on and the kids found themselves in their kitchen, just as they suspected.

"Sorry dears, but I was so worried after my contacts confirmed that the invite was a fake and you two disappeared." Agent K apologized.

"No it's alright mom," the kids hugging her. "This was actually from some secret...HEY!" Riley started saying when Todd bumped her.

"Riley ixnay on the gencyaay," Todd whispered doing the 'cut' gesture.

"What agency?" Agent K demanded. Todd facepalmed himself for forgetting that his mom is fluent in over a dozen languages including Pig Latin.

"Mom Dad we got a job offer but we really need your advice on whether or not to take it." Riley said. After all who better to asked about joining a secret agency than someone who's already a spy for a secret agency.

* * *

Lee's house

Lee sat at his desk video chatting with his friends Cam and Holger. "So give me the juice man, when is the interview going play? Did you make sure that they got my involvement on record?" Cam asked.

"Yes Holger is eager to see friend Lee on the screen," Holger added.

"Yeah I don't think that the interview will air any time soon," Lee smiled. He didn't have the heart to tell them that there was no interview, mainly because he has no idea how to tell them that it really was a super intelligent pig giving them a job offer. A job that he's not sure he really wants to do.

"Aw man don't tell me that Biffy messed everything up," Cam groaned.

"No nothing like that," Lee insisted. "Look it's getting late and I'm pretty tired," Lee faking a yawn.

"Fine but you better give us the deets tomorrow," Cam demanded.

"Yeah the deets," Holger echoed not really understanding what deets mean.

"Sure thing," Lee promised as he logged out. Lee sat in his chair in deep thought for a few minutes before he picked up his cell phone and started texting. ' _We need to talk about WADDLES'_ Lee sent the message to Biffy.

 _'Busy right now, meet me in detention'_ Biffy responded.

"Seriously?" Lee complained. He just got out of being the Detentionaire and now he has to find a way to get detention again.

* * *

City

Dib and Zim walked down the streets deep in a staring contest that neither will back down from. "Your time is up Zim. Waddles and the others know you're an alien and pretty soon, we'll have you strapped down on that pretty lab table in the science room at PHQ." Dib gloated.

"Don't be too sure Dib. If they wanted me captured, then why did they let me go?" Zim pointed out.

"Maybe it's because they want to know the full extent of your invasion. Waddles said that he was preparing for a major catastrophe and what bigger catastrophe than an alien invasion? As the saying goes: keep your friends close and your enemies closer." Dib quoted.

"Yes we are a major threat," Zim said beaming with pride. "But know this, I will not allow that piggy to succeed in stopping the mighty Irken Empire!" Zim swore as he ran into his house.

"We'll see about that," Dib accepting the challenge.

* * *

X Middle School

Fillmore sat in the empty office of the Safety Patrol. Since school is still out, there was no one there. A perfect place to get some peace and quiet while he sort through his thoughts.

"I thought I'd find you here," Ingrid said entering the room.

'So much for peace and quiet' Fillmore thought to himself. "What are you doing here?" Fillmore asked.

"The same thing you are, trying figure out this whole Waddles business." Ingrid replied.

"You know when I first put this sash on I made a vow to help everyone I can to make this school a better place." Fillmore said tracing the sash he was wearing. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the Pig badge. "Now some pig gives this to me and asks me if I want to protect the world." Fillmore sighed.

"Do you want to do it?" Ingrid asked. While she's not really interested in having two jobs, she is Fillmore's partner and intends on supporting him no matter what he decides.

"I don't know," Fillmore shaking his head. "Taking care of this school is already a hand full. Not sure if I can handle patrolling the world."

"I see," Ingrid sighed. She knows him well enough to know that he already made up his mind. Even if he hadn't realized it himself.

* * *

Echo Creek

Marco silently walked down the street, still feeling down about the whole ordeal. Bothered by what Waddles said to him about how he relies too much on Star's magic to get him out of sticky situations. Now Marco is a smart guy and despite his claims of being a 'bad boy', he's fully aware that he's really is the 'safe kid'. He only took up karate because he overheard Jackie Lynn Thomas talking with other girls about how they think those martial arts action movie stars are cool. Of course he's never actually showed off any of his skills to her; playing it safe by waiting until he becomes more proficient at it in order to maximize his chances of impressing her. Like when he finally earns his black belt and beats up his hated rival Jeremy (when he's older so that it doesn't seem so creepy or illegal).

Then Star came into his life and he found himself using his skills to fight off monsters and travelling to other dimensions. Normally he would never get involved with something so dangerous, but the idea of actually having an adventure and doing something crazy appealed to him for some reason. The only problem is why did he get the sudden attitude change? Is it because he always had this adventurous side and Star merely presented him the opportunity? Or is it just as Waddles said that Marco is just hiding behind Star's magic, knowing that she would protect him if things get too dangerous. Marco didn't have time to contemplate this dilemma as Star came 'Rabbit Rocketing' down the street and tackling him down on the ground.

"Marco! Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!" Star rambled on, using her wand to show clips of her searching the various dimensions they normally visit including St. Olga's completely overlooking the fact that Marco lacks the means to dimension hop on his own.

"Chill out star I was at that" Marco didn't know if he should tell her about W.A.D.D.L.E.S.

"Oh right that boring safety stuff," Star moaned. Remembering that letter about that boring meeting that she decided to skip out on. She had completely forgotten all about that. Mainly because she had this habit of blocking out anything she perceives as boring from her mind.

"Yeah boring," Marco sighed. Part of him wanted to tell Star about W.A.D.D.L.E.S. but part of him also wants to see how far he can go on his own without Star's magic backing him up.

* * *

Nod's Limbs

"We're home!" Edgar and Ellen announced entering their home. "AAHH!" they screamed in terror as Heimertz came running out of the shadows wielding a chainsaw right at the twins. Standing right in front of the twins he raised his chainsaw above his head then used it to carve and cut...this old coffee table for his arts and craft project of making a 'Welcome Home' sign for the kids.

"Heh good to see you too Heimertz," Edgar gulped. After all these years of living together, the silent big man still freaks them out. After that eventful welcome, the twins hurried to the Gadget Graveyard where the tank they were planning to use of Stephanie's birthday party.

"I guess we can use it for something else," Ellen suggested trying to fight back the tears. She had this big hole in her heart at the thought of her hated enemy actually having a fun time on her birthday.

"Yeah I guess," Edgar sighed sadly. He really wanted to drive the tank at Stephanie's party.

"THERE YOU ARE!" they heard Stephanie's grading voice yelling at them. The twins turned around to see Stephanie huffing angrily and covered head to toe with what looked and smelled like vanilla frosting.

"What happened to you," Ellen snicked.

"Oh as if you two terror twins didn't know! You ruined my party!" Stephanie ranted.

"How can that be, we were um out of town," Edgar insisted.

"LIES! I know you were there and I'll make you pay for this!" Stephanie threatened as she stormed off.

"What was that all about?" Ellen wondered.

"I can tell you," Stephanie's brother Miles said. Stepping out from behind some trash after making sure his sister has gone.

"Hey Ellen it's your boyfriend," Edgar teased.

"Oh grow up," Ellen snapped. While the twins might not like the overly nice townsfolk in general, Miles seems to be the exception. As Ellen puts it: 'As far as Knightleighs go, this one is alright'. "So what happen to your sister?"

"Well Stephanie was fully expecting you to pull off your traditional birthday prank, so she was on full guard. But half way through she started getting paranoid when nothing happen. By the time it came for presents and cake, she flipped out and started destroying everything suspecting that you must have sabotaged something." Miles explained.

"Man I wish I could have seen that," Edgar laughing his head off.

"Here I have it recorded," Miles handing them his hand held camera showing them a video of Stephanie ripping the cake apart spouting: 'I know you're hiding in this cake! Come on out you terror twins! What are you up to?' The video then continued to her destroying her presents accusing the twins of sabotaging them somehow.

"Priceless," Edgar laughing as he rewatched the video over and over again.

"Thanks Miles, that makes us leaving town over the weekend all worth it," Ellen said giving the little boy a friendly hug.

"Well I got to get home now, you can keep the camera." Miles said as he hurried off.

"And you wonder why I think he's your boyfriend," Edgar teased.

"Stuff it," Ellen said slapping her brother's head. "Well Stephanie's party was ruined."

"Not by us," Edgar pointed out.

"So now what do we do?" Ellen asked. They were planning on pranking Stephanie to make up for missing her party, but after seeing that video it makes it kind of pointless and petty.

"Well we still have some of that stuff we 'borrowed' from PHQ," Edgar using air quotes. "What say we see what kind of wonders we can make?" He suggested. The twins grinned as they raced to their own labs.

* * *

Gage's house

"So what do you think about that pig?" Chris asked.

"He has a nice operation going on," Gage admitted but was still on the fence about joining W.A.D.D.L.E.S. especially after what Waddles said about not making Sin a priority. Just then his computer pinged announcing 'You got mail'. Opening the message, Gage found a video from someone called SinfulPride4.

 _"Greetings brother Hope."_ a familiar figure in the video said.

"Hey isn't guy," Chris gasp.

"Yeah one of the guys from Sin that got away with a piece of Pandora's box," Gage confirmed.

"Why does he call you Brother hope?" Chris wondered.

"Hope is the 8th sin and the one who powers are in the fragment I possess," Gage explained.

 _"I know that we have a checkered past but I believe that it is time for us to put that all behind us and work together with our other brothers to rebuild Pandora's box."_

"As if! This is obviously a trap." Chris scoffed.

 _"Now I know that you'd most likely refuse, thinking that this is some kind of a trap. That is why I'd like to set up a video chat with all our other brothers first. The link is with this message as well as the time of the meeting. I'm looking forward to meeting you."_ The video ends there.

"So what now?" Chris asked.

"Well we have his e-mail address. Maybe we can use that to track him down." Gage figured.

"Dude no offense, you may be a straight A student but a techno geek you are not. You don't have the magic fingers to get the computers to do whatever you want." Chris pointed out.

Gage hated to admit it but Chris is right. He's not a computer programmer nor does he know anyone, both living or dead, who might be. That left only one option. "Maybe the pig can help us."

* * *

Piedmont

The Northwest limo dropped Dipper off right in front of his home. "Well goodbye," Dipper said to his girlfriend who insisted on accompanying him for the ride home.

"Bye," Pacifica said giving her boyfriend a light kiss on the cheek.

"I'm home," Dipper announced as he entered his house.

"DIPPER! DIPPER! Where have you been? It's a catastrophe!" Mabel cried tackling her brother to the ground.

"Mabel calm down, you'll find true love some day." Dipper preached believing that something must have happen to make Mabel realize that she has no shot with whoever it is she's crying about.

"What? No not that! It's Waddles, I can't find him anywhere!" Mabel cried.

"Oh," Dipper gulped. Not sure if he should tell her about Waddles's intelligence or the fact that he's leading a team of secret agents. Just then he noticed a feint light coming from the closet followed by an unmistakable oink. "Did you check the closet?" Dipper asked innocently.

"Of course, that's the first place I looked!" Mabel insisted.

Dipper casually opened the closet and found Waddles there hidden under these coats and blankets. "You see he here, he's probably just been taking a nap." Dipper lied. Normally Mabel's would have been suspicious since she checked the closet a dozen times searching for Waddles but right now she is so relieved to see him that she just doesn't care.

"Oh Waddles don't you ever scare me like that again," Mabel cried giving her pig a warm hug. That's when they heard this strange grumbling from Waddles's stomach. "Oh dear you must be starving being trapped in the closet all weekend. Come on I'll prepare your favorites." Mabel said heading for the kitchen leaving Waddles alone with Dipper.

Waddles groaned in pain since the sound was not his stomach grumbling in hunger but from pain from overeating the party's leftovers. "You know you can't hide this from her forever," Dipper warned. Waddles unable to talk since he didn't have his scooter and he promised never to speak telepathically to him, merely stared at Dipper with these big cute pigletly eyes. "Ugh fine I'll help cover for you," Dipper conceded. He could never fight against that look. Waddles happily snuggled up to Dipper's side with Dipper reluctantly scratching behind Waddles's ear because he knows he likes that. "You are so lucky that you are cute," Dipper complained but still scratching his ear. Waddles happily oinked knowing that he got away with his schemes without any serious repercussions to himself or Mabel.

"Waddles dinner," Mabel calling her pet. Waddles gulped nervously as he slowly walked towards the kitchen hoping he has enough space for a few bites to keep his owner happy.


	10. Shopping Spree with Coupons

In a not so secret lab hidden out in plane sight in central Miracle City; a 4 friends, scratch that 3 acquaintances plus the girl they like, where busy working latest project. "What's taking so long?" Frida yelled causing her cohorts to drop the delicate devices they were working on resulting in a minor explosion.

"Oh no it's ruined," Serigo cried.

"This will set us back," Diego gulped.

"You better not tell her that," Django advised.

"What are you whispering about? You better not be saying this is my fault!" Frida warned.

"What?" "No!" "Of course not!" the trio denied.

"Great, so when's my new suit going to be ready?" Frida asked in her friendly cheery voice.

"Well that's the thing," Serigo gulped. Frida's face started to red from anger. "You see in order to get it to the specs you requested, we're going to need the new state of the art super processing BMX motherboard chip series B-13B." Serigo explained, then ducking for cover.

"SO GET ONE!" Frida demanded.

"But Frida my sweet, the only one in existence is the prototype at Box-More Co. in Riot City." Diego cringed.

"Well you boys are master criminals right?" Frida said in her sweet innocent voice. "GO IN THERE AND STEAL IT!" she roared breathing fire at her companions.

"Steal from Box-More? Are you crazy?" Django gasped. "Frida I don't think you understand. Box-More builds and sells weapons to all the supervillains in the known universe. To steal from them would bring the entire underworld down our throats. Even my Nana would never dare cross them."

Frida considered this for a moment. As much as she wanted her new and improved battle suit to enact her revenge against Zoe and Manny, even she is smart enough to know that if Santana of the Dead is afraid of Box-More then they are probably someone she wouldn't want to mess with. "Alright then how about we buy this prototype?" Frida suggested.

"Buy an untested prototype that's still in the development stages?" Seirgo gasped. "That would cost a fortune!"

"I'm sure between the three of you big strong supervillains should have enough for one little old whatever it was for me?" Frida said in a seductive tone.

"Well I do have my birthday money," Serigo sighed.

"I did just rob the bank the other day," Diego added.

"I suppose Nana wouldn't be too mad if I borrowed some of her personal stash," Django gulped.

"Great!" Frida cheered not picking up on the boys' sour mood and is just glad that she's going to get what she wants. "Now we're off to where again?"

"Riot City," the boys' groaned. They had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

Elsewhere on Route 75 stood a small outlet mall that specializes in selling supplies to all the heroes around the universe called Lakewood Plaza Turbo. **(** **A/N: Lakewood Plaza Turbo coming soon to Cartoon Network, hopefully, but the pilot can be seen on Youtube)** It is here that three friends, Enid, Radicles, and KO were working in a convenience store owned by Mr. Gar who also happens to own the whole Plaza. "Hey KO check it out," the alien Radicles calling his young friend and coworker to the soda dispenser.

"What's up Radicles?" KO asked.

"I'm going to show you my very own special super secret blend," Radicles whispered in KO's ear.

"Super secret blend," KO repeated with admiration. It really doesn't take much to impress the kid. Just add the words amazing, special, bodacious, or any other variations and he'd be awestruck.

Radicles grabbed a large size cup and started filling it with different sodas. "First you cover the bottom with layer coke, then add a dash of 7up, a hint of Mountain Dew, a few other things, top it off with a load of Root Beer foam and presto! The perfect belch formula. Patent pending." Radicles took a swig of his drink followed by a loud burp that started pushing KO back.

"Cool let me try!" KO pleaded reaching for the drink.

"Whoa hold it kiddo, I think this is a bit strong for you." Radicles joked keeping the cup out of KO's reach.

"Hey I'm tough enough," KO insisted flexing his underdeveloped biceps. He hates it when people questions his masculinity.

"Alrighty then," Radicles handing KO the drink. KO, not wanting to do anything half way, swallowed the whole serving in one gulp. "Take it easy kid. You could destroy the whole store." Radicles warned, already ducking for cover. After KO finished the drink he waited for the big belch to come only to find that he couldn't do it.

"What am I doing wrong?" KO wondered.

"Maybe you just need a little more," Radicles grinned as he prepared to make another only this time with a mega size cup.

"Hey what are you slackers doing? Get back to work!" Enid kicking an energy foot at her coworkers. Radicles and KO barely managed to dodge Enid attack and her energy foot ended up hitting the soda dispenser blowing the machine up.

"Ooh you're in trouble," Radicles and KO teased.

"No problem I'll just blame you guys," Enid shrugged.

"Hey you can't do that!" Radicles objected.

"Why not? Technically it is your fault since you guys goofing off instead of working." Enid justified.

"Working? We've done all are work." Radicles insisted.

"Really? Did you restock the shelves?" Enid challenged.

"What for? We've hadn't many customers that our shelves have been fully stocked all week." Radicles pointed out.

"True," Enid agreed. Ever since the Balance of the Universe shifted towards light there has been a sharp decrease in villain attacks; and as such no real reason for Superheroes to buy supplies. Proving that while peace may be good for the world, it's bad for business. "Then go clean the bathrooms," Enid ordered.

"I just cleaned it four times already, and I used the new super industrial cleaner so now I can see my reflection in everything. The toilets are so clean you can eat off of them. I should know I just ate my lunch there." KO reported.

"First off good work, second gross." Enid gagged. "Look can you try to look busy?" Enid pleaded. Just then the building started shaking followed by this loud whistling sound. "What's going on?" Enid demanded.

KO rushed outside. "Looks like the 12 o'clock train has arrived," KO reported. Enid and Radicles looked over to where KO was pointing to see a shiny new train pulling up the the station right next to the Plaza.

"Oh good, maybe we can finally get some customers," Enid commented. "Wait a minute when did we get a train station?" To which her coworkers shrugged.

* * *

Disembarking the train first was Waddles on his scooter followed by the rest on team. "Well here we are my agents," Waddles typed.

"Where's here?" Riley asked.

"Lakewood Plaza Turbo, a small outlet mall with various stores including a martial arts dojo and video store." Fillmore commented.

"I certainly hope you weren't spying on me again," Waddles accused. After joining the team, Waddles caught Fillmore trying to sneak into his office three times. While normally such an act should have gotten him fired, it's that dedication to investigations is the reason Waddles recruited Fillmore in the first place.

"Actually I just read that sign over there," Fillmore admitted pointing to the plaza sign.

"Wow I heard you're a good detective but I didn't think you're that good," Todd said with admiration that it made it hard to tell if he's joking or not.

"Now that we establish where we are, can someone tell us what we're doing here?" Ellen demanded.

Waddles drove his scooter so that he was facing his team. "For the past week I've been reviewing your progress, and to be honest I felt you guys can use a break." Waddles typed bluntly.

"So you brought us to an outlet mall?" Ingrid said suspiciously.

"This is no ordinary mall, as I'm sure you'll all quickly find out." Waddles typed cryptically.

"Hey what's going on here?" The gang found themselves being approached by topless middle age man wearing a neck tie and tacky pants. His body ripped with muscles (which is probably why he didn't wear a shirt). "Who put this train station here in my plaza!"

"Ah Mr. Gar it's a pleasure to meet you." Waddles greeted. Pressing a button on his scooter, a robotic arm came out and offered to shake Mr. Gar's hand.

"Huh I can't say that this is the weirdest thing I've ever seen," Mr. Gar commented shaking Waddles's robotic arm. "So what are you doing here?" Waddles's arm then gave Mr. Gar his business card. "Oh your from that new Worlds' Agency Department for Dimensional Law Enforcement Services. Please to meet you."

"Likewise," Waddles responded.

"So I take you're here for that special mission," Mr. Gar whispered rather loudly in Waddles's ear that the rest of the agents heard him. Peaking their curiosity about their so called leader. "Well then since you're a fledgling agency and it's your guys first visit to the plaza, please accept these special deal coupons." Mr Gar handing the agents the coupon books. "Enjoy your visit to Lakewood Plaza Turbo. The best place where for Superhero supplies."

"Okay so now what do we do?" Marco asked after Mr. Gar left.

"Well I'm going to that food truck over there. As for the rest of you, you all are free to do whatever you want here in the plaza. Just remember that the train leaves at 5 with or without you." Waddles warned as he scooted off to the food truck.

"So what does the piggy expect us to do?" Zim wondered.

"What do you think?" Ingrid asked her partner.

"Obviously he's up to something but whatever it is we're not going to find out if we just stay here." Fillmore said blandly as he and Ingrid headed into the Plaza. After a few seconds the others followed as well.

* * *

Over at the Fitness Emotion Dojo Marco, Fillmore, Ingrid, Gage, and Chris signed up for a free sample class with their coupons. "Alright you newbies, you guys got in on a free coupon but don't think that means I'll be going easy on you." Carol the master of the Dojo and KO mother warned. "FIRST STANCE AYE!" Carol spreading her legs and holding her arms up.

"AYE!" the students echoed getting into the same stance.

"Okay I see a few problems here," Carol smiled as she walked around the team. "You," Carol pointing to Ingrid. "You have a photographic memory don't you?"

"Yes," Ingrid responded. "But how did you know?"

"Girl I've been a professional fight/superhero now for years. So I'm pretty good at reading tells, and I can tell by the way you mimic my pose perfectly that you have photographic memory." Carol explained.

"So is that good or bad?" Ingrid asked curiously.

"Not if you're trying out to be some dancer in high school musical." Carol said bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Ingrid said feeling a tad insulted by that dancer remark.

"Look kid, your gift allows you to master moves almost instantly, but knowing how to do a move and knowing when to do a move are two different things. It could mean the difference between victory and defeat. If you really want to learn how to fight, you must first learn how not to rely too much on you mimicking skills." Carol explained. Ingrid took a moment to process what she told her.

"And you," Carol walked up to Gage. "You're a medium aren't you?"

"How did you know?" Gage choked.

"You also did your stance perfectly but I noticed that your arms and legs kept twitching. Obviously you know what to do but you don't have the strength or stamina to do it correctly. The last time I saw something like that was with a guy who always allowed ghosts to posses his body." Carol observed.

"Just like me," Gage whispered.

"Look gaining the powers from the masters of the past is fine and all, but you're going to need to build up your own muscles if you're going to expect your body to keep up with the masters skills as well as to fight on its own." Carol advised.

"That's what I keep telling him," Chris jumped in.

"Good for you," Carol praised before doing a quick sweep kick that knocked Chris on his butt. "But you need to work on your balance. Kids today focuses so much on their biceps that they forget that their legs are actually the most important part in combat."

"Yes mam," Chris said picking himself up. While he knows that leg work is important, thanks to watching a lot of action movies, he just can't get over the mindset that punching looks cooler.

Carol then walked over to Fillmore "You have skills kid, even been in a few brawls I think." Carol noting the scars and faded bruises on his body.

"I've had my share," Fillmore simply responded when Carol grabbed his hands.

"Yeah but seeing how soft your knuckles are, I'd wager you've never hit anyone in your life." Carol observed.

"As a Safety Patrol it's my job to take down perks, but prefer to avoid confrontation whenever possible." Fillmore said with dedication.

"I see, well it's not really my style, but I do know a few nonviolent take-down moves that you might be interested in." Carol offered.

"I'd appreciate that," Fillmore accepted.

"Finally you," Carol turning to Marco. Marco jumped to attention almost like this is a military inspection. "You've got some skills. I take it that you've had some training under your belts." Carol complimented causing the boy to sigh in relief.

"Yes mam," Marco said proudly.

"So what motivates you to train?" Carol asked Marco.

"Well my whole life everyone kept calling me the safe kid just because I wore a helmet in the showers once! So I signed up for martial arts to help better myself. To tap into my inner strength and be all that I can be." Marco replied.

"Ah you want to impress a pretty girl who thinks you are a wimp," Carol reading between the lines. The sour expression on Marco's face pretty much confirmed that Carol hit the bull's eye. "Don't worry kid I think I can help you out with that. I can help all of you. If you're willing." Carol laughed.

* * *

Todd, Riley, and Janna were in Gar's Bodega hero supply store looking through some of the wares. "Wow cell phone batteries that recharge as you're using your phone." Todd gasped.

"That doesn't seem scientifically possible," Riley said critically. Half expecting this to be a scam.

"Neither does an outlet mall for superheroes," Janna laughed drinking this strange green liquid on the free sample tray.

"Hey stop drinking that?" Enid demanded.

"What wrong? Is it one per customer?" Janna gulping two more sample cups at the same time in an act of defiance.

"Yes and that's only for superheroes!" Enid warned. "If a normal human drinks it..." She didn't get a chance to finish as Janna started mutating into a green hulk version of herself. "That happens," Enid moaned.

"Janna smash!" monster Janna laughed going on a crazed rampage. Picking up the table and tossing it across the store, land right next to a sleeping Radicles.

"Hey I'm trying to nap here!" Radicles complained only to be silence seeing the Janna hulk.

"Radicles do something!" Enid ordered.

Before Radicles could respond his watch started beeping. "Sorry man, 12:45 I'm break." Radicles said before using his levitation powers to float away.

"Idiot," Enid mumbled. Charging her special move, Enid kicked another energy foot at Janna which hit Janna right in the stomach causing the mutated girl to vomit the juice out. Reverting her back to normal.

"Aw man," Janna whined seeing that she was no longer a monster.

"This is why we don't let normal humans shop here. Superhero gear is just way too dangerous for the general public. As an official hero it's my responsibility to keep you guys safe." Enid preached.

"I'll take a dozen or so of those drinks," Janna offered showing the clerk a bag full of gems that Janna 'borrowed' from Star.

"Sold," Enid said clicking on her cash register. She may be a responsible hero but she still had a sales quota to fill.

"Can we have some cell phone batteries too?" Riley asked holding out the coupons. She had seen enough strangeness to be convinced that the batteries are real.

* * *

Radicles floated all the way to his van, the Rad Van, where he found a strange big headed kid gasping strangely and silently pointing at him. "Yo dude, you better close your mouth or else flies are going to fly in." Radicles joked.

"You! You're an alien!" Dib accused. Noting Radicles's teal skin and antennas, plus the fact that he just flew in on his own.

"Geez dude, sounds like you've never seen an alien before." Radicles said sounding mildly annoyed.

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I won't report you!" Dib threatened.

"Whoa no need for that little dude. My green card is in the mail." Radicles insisted. Actually Radicles was too lazy to finish his paper work so he never got his green card, but got special treatment after gaining superhero status after helping save the Plaza from evil robots.

"Green card? So what you're not an evil alien bent of dominating the world?" Dib asked.

"What? Look kid not all aliens are world conquers. That's just a stereotype made up by Hollywood hacks. I mean how many real aliens have you ever met?" Radicles dared. Dib pointed to Zim. "Is that an Irken? Man those guys are jerks." Radicles commented.

"So you've encountered them before?" Dib asked eagerly. Hoping that the alien might give him some insight about Irkens that will help him find a way to deal with Zim once and for all.

"Naw I just read a lot about them from tabloids," Radicles admitted.

* * *

Speaking of Zim, he sat down sulking on a bench far away from his so called teammates. He joined this team so that he can take some of Waddles's tech, not to waste time in some mall that probably have the same terrible food that plagues this puny planet. At first Zim was planning on stealing the Dimensional train and using it to head back to PHQ so that he can steal the weapons, but it turns out that the controls are designed for pigs. Anyone who didn't have hoofs wouldn't even be able to start the darn thing. Meaning that Zim was stuck here with the rest of them. As he sat there pondering what to do next, Edgar and Ellen jumped out of nowhere completely startling the alien invader. "Hey Zim what cha doing?" she asked.

"None of your bees wax!" Zim snapped trying to hide the fact that she scared him.

"Well if you got nothing to do then maybe you can give me and my brother a hand?" Ellen invited.

"I don't care in whatever you or your male copy indulge in!" Zim rejected.

"That's okay I didn't think you can handle it anyway." Edgar trying to bait the naive alien with reverse psychology.

"I can handle anything you pitiful humans can, even more so!" Zim ranted.

"Then follow us," Ellen chuckled. Already she can see that she can manipulate him far easier than anyone from Nod's Limbs.

The twins led Zim to the back of the Plaza where KO was dumping the trash. "What the...?" Zim gasped seeing the contents KO was hauling. "Are those series 4 battle droids?"

"Don't know, but just think of all the things I can do with these spare parts." Edgar drooled.

"Not only that, but they are filled with some kind of toxic goo." Ellen said taking a sample of the goo from the ground.

"Huh oh yeah, Box-More always send these hunks of junk to try and destroy the Plaza." KO explained.

"But, but why would such advanced weapons be here? Even the Cluster is stuck using series 3." Zim demanded.

"Who do you think made the battle droids?" KO laughed. "Box-More builds and sells weapons all over the universe."

"Really," Zim's antenna perking up with great interest.

"Say uh you wouldn't mind if we take some of these off your hands do you?" Edgar asked.

"Why?" KO wondered.

"Oh we're um with the recyclist org. You know instead of just dumping these in a landfill, we're going to recycle them into something useful." Ellen grinned.

"Yes very useful," Zim chuckled manically.

KO eyed the trio suspiciously. Everything about them from their clothes to their demeanor just screamed bad guys, but Mr. Gar and his mom always told him to recycle whenever possible. "Okay," KO tossed the broken robots over to them.

"AAAHHHH!" the trio screamed as a ton of robot parts landed right on top of them. Being a super kid KO can easily lift over 1000 lbs. The agents however were not so physically fit.

* * *

At the discount Beauty and Weapons store Lee and Biffy were doing some shopping of their own. "Do you think Rumble is going to like this color?" Biffy asked for Lee's opinion about some new yarn color that he's planning for a new sweater for his pet kitten.

"Sure if his new sweater has more than three leg holes," Lee teased.

"You're never going to let me forget that are you," Biffy sulked.

"Ah welcome, may I interest you in a quick hair cut or war hammer?" a robotic clerk with the name tag Mr. Logic asked holding a pair of scissors and a giant hammer.

"Um no thanks we're just looking at the yarn selection," Lee gulped.

"Oh that is a good one. Made from titanium that yarn is can make a sweater that's completely bullet proof." Mr. Logic informed them.

"Titanium? Who makes sweaters out of titanium?" Biffy said critically.

"Ah, do you wish a more comfortable fabric. Then how about this brand." Mr. Logic handed Biffy a ball of yarn.

"Whoa this is nice and soft," Biffy smiled rubbing the yarn on his face.

"Yes it's genuine cat yarn, made from the finest cat hair." Mr. Logic informed them.

"CAT!" Biffy gasped dropping the ball of yarn. "What kind of sickos make yarn out of cats!"

"If that doesn't please you I have other yarn that are not only comfortable but also provide a wide range of protection. Such as this one made from fur dragon. While not as nice as cat fur, it is completely fireproof." Mr. Logic suggested. Biffy scowled at the mechanical retailer, upset at the fact that the bot just tried to sell him cat yarn; but on the other hand, a fireproof sweater might not be such a bad idea for his precious kitten.

"Um what do you have in exotic perfumes?" Lee asked. He promised his girlfriend Tina that he'd buy her something special for having to miss out on their date last weekend and this weekend as well.

* * *

Over at the food truck Waddles was enjoying his burritos while at the same time trying to keep an eye on his agents. Luckily the Plaza was small enough that he could watch everyone from where he was sitting. "Mind if I join you?" Mr. Gar asked holding a bag lunch.

 _"I don't mind,"_ Waddles responded telepathically. Even though they've never met, Waddles has heard about Mr. Gar from the rest of the council. Mr. Gar was once one of the greatest heroes in the world and even offered a place in the council; but he hated politics so instead opened the Plaza. That way he could still support the next generation of heroes. Even though he's not part of the council, they still keep him in the loop of the ongoing around the universe including the formation of W.A.D.D.L.E.S. _"So what do you think of my agents?"_

"You know when I heard that those D.I.C.S. authorized a team of non-powered humans to be the front line, I said to myself that this is a bad idea." Mr. Gar making his point clear. "But after seeing them for myself, I can honestly say that they all have potential. Maybe they can restore the balance without triggering another all out war." Mr. Gar said hopefully. Waddles accidentally caught a glimpse into Mr. Gar's memory of the last Super hero/villain war. Not something that anyone would want to see again.

 _"Yes but they are a bit rough around the edges and need a lot of polishing."_ Waddles thought critically.

"Isn't that why you brought them here? To try and learn from some real heroes." Mr. Gar joked.

 _"Indeed, I only hope I can prepare them for the battles ahead. I can only hope I'm prepared to do what is necessary."_ Waddles thought sadly.

"Want a bite of my ham sandwich?" Mr. Gar offered hoping to ease the tension.

 _"Sicko, I'm not a cannibal!"_ Waddles retorted.

"Oh right," Mr. Gar apologized. He'd almost forgot where ham comes from but that didn't stop him from eating it himself. Much to Waddles dismay.

* * *

Across the street of Lakewood Plaza stood the Box-More factory/store. Inside in his private office Lord Box-Man sat at his desk with his two robot henchmen/children Darrell and Shannon. "So how are our sales projection?" Lord Box asked.

"It's been great dad!" Shannon said excitedly. "We've seen an increase in sales of up to 30% all across the board. It looks like the villain community is planning something big!"

"And what of Lakewood?" Mr. Box asked cautiously.

"According to my spies, not much. It seems that their sales have dropped considerably." Darrell reported looking at Lakewood through a telescope. "Also it looks like they've got a train."

"A train?" Lord Box grabbing the telescope and looking through to confirm it for himself.

"What do those do-gooders want with a train anyway?" Shannon wondered looking out the window. Since the Plaza is just across the street the can easily see everything even without the telescope.

"Fool! Trains can transport large amounts of goods quickly and efficiently since they don't have to worry about traffic." Lord Box lectured. "It's brilliant, why don't we have a train!" Lord Box whined like a temperamental child.

"Because we never had train tracks here before?" Darrell pointed out.

"Yeah how did those losers lay down all that track and build an entire station without us noticing?" Shannon wondered.

"Please they can build an entire city around us without you two dunderheads noticing," Lord Box ridiculed. Causing the two to lower their heads in disappointment. Just then the alarms went off. "What's going one?" Lord Box demanded. Right on cue Frida and her admirers came bursting through the door. "What the? How did you get in here? And who's in charge of security?"

"He/She is," Darrell and Shannon said at the same time pointing at each other.

"Hey there big guy," Frida greeted but before she could say another word Darrell and Shannon both had their weapons pointing straight at the intruders. "Whoa rude much," Frida criticized.

"Swine! I knew this was a bad idea." Diego muttered.

"Well I must say you have a lot of nerve breaking into my office," Lord Box praised. "Execute them," he ordered.

"Whoa hold up I want to make a deal!" Frida pleaded with Darrell and Shannon slowly advancing on them.

"No deal," Lord Box laughed.

"We got money," Frida added.

"Hold," Lord Box ordered much to the disappointment of his children. "Money?" Lord Box asked greedily.

"Yup," Frida gestured her cohorts to show their loot. Diego, Django, and Serigo reluctantly poured a small pile of gold, jewels, cash, and coupons on his desk.

"So what is it that you want?" Lord Box asked greedily. True he can just kill them now and take all this money, but if they have this much then there's a possibility that they might have more.

"We want the whatchamacallit 13 something," Frida said.

"Huh?" Lord Box and his kids wondered.

"The super processing BMX motherboard chip series B-13B," Serigo clarified.

"Hey that's top secret!" Darrell protested.

"Uh do we have something like that?" Lord Box asked.

"Dad it's the latest project I told you about at last board meeting," Darrell reminded him.

"Oh right," Lord Box recalled the moments of that last bored meeting. Darrell was out spouting about some new toy he wanted, with Lord Box playing a modified version of Angry Birds. Only in his version , instead of slinging birds to knock down pigs, he was slinging his own head to knock down his own children. In his excitement about passing the stage, he accidentally authorized Darrell's project without knowing it. Looking at the large pile of money, Lord Box was tempted to just sell the chip for twice the amount but he got a better idea. "Well I'm afraid that this isn't going to be enough," Lord Box smiled. With Darrell breathing a sigh of relief. He was afraid that his father would sell his latest work.

"We have more," Frida promised.

"We do?" the boys questioned until Frida told them to shush.

"But I am willing to lend you if you do a job for me," Lord Box offered.

"What? No!" Darrell objected but was silenced by his father's glare.

"If you destroy that annoying Plaza across the street. Then we'll consider the matter settled." Lord Box offered.

"Deal," Frida shaking his hand.

"Darrell show them to the..." Lord Box trying to remember the device's name.

"The super processing BMX motherboard chip series B-13B. You know the thing that was suppose to make my robot suit invincible so that I could destroy the Plaza for you!" Darrell complained.

"Invincible? Yeah right." Shannon laughed. She almost regret that someone else is going to be using that chip. Seeing her brother coming home in shame after a failed mission was always the highlight of her day.

"Also assign team Delta to install the chip." Lord Box ordered.

Darrell gasped shock, "Team Delta but those guys specialize in"

"We're on it dad!" Shannon cutting him off. Realizing what their father is up to.

"Yeah yeah whatever," Darrell grumbled leading their guests to the factory. Shannon on the other hand smiled as she can't wait to see how this turns out.

After they all left his office Lord Box stared out his window to the Plaza across the street. "Soon I will wipe that eyesore out once and for all," Lord Box laughed manically.


	11. Incentives and Sacrifice

"Is that it?" Dr. Chipotle Jr. drooling over the microprocessor the robot drones were bringing in. His robotic eye zooming in and out to get a better look at the electronic marvel.

"HEY GET BACK!" Darrell snapped pushing the young prodigy away form the chip.

"SWINE!" Dr. Chipotle Jr. cursing the rough treatment.

"The B13-B is my pride and joy. Not only does it have more processing power than any super computer, it can actually increase weapons' destructability by 2000%." Darrell boasted. "It was suppose to be for my robot suit so that I can destroy Lakewood" Darrell complained.

"Huh did you say something?" Frida said still watching the robot drones working on her new battle suit, Senor Siniestro was busy purchasing more robots for his mechanical bandito gang, and Django was debating which is more evil, dark magic or mad science, with Shannon. Off to the side, Darrell grumbled in frustration seeing how no one was even paying any attention to him. Not even the robot drones that are program to obey him.

* * *

Across the street at Lakewood Plaza, the agents were hanging out next to the train station eagerly sharing with each other their experiences. The girls were showing off the things they purchased, while the boys were practicing the special moves Carol taught them. Off to the side, Waddles was was checking his notepad to make sure that he accomplished everything he need here. "Alright, I hopt you had fun." Waddles typed. The agents all smiled and nodded. Zim suspiciously so trying to hide so stuff inside his PAK. "The train will be leaving in 5 minutes. So make sure you'v got everything." Waddles advised before entering the train to prep it for departure.

The agents all started gathering their things that they either purchased or salvaged, while at the same time saying their goodbyes to the people at the plaza. Waddles himself was communicating with Mr. Gar thanking him for all his support via telepathically as well. As Waddles remotely started to prep the train from his scooter a loud explosion could be heard from across the street! Everyone turned to see a large smoking hole on the side of the Box-More building. "What's going on!" Mr. Gar demanded.

"Looks like trouble in trouble central boss," Radicles reported saluting.

"I can see that, I mean what sort of trouble!" Mr. Gar clarified.

"There seems to be something coming out of there," Enid squinting her eyes to try and get a better view. Everyone followed her example and started squinting their eyes as well. As the smoke cleared from Box-More, they could barely make out what looks like a giant figure coming out of the hole. Then it leaped into the air landing right in the middle of Lakewood's parking lot. Smashing the Rad-Van and sending the rest flying on the shock waves. As the dust cleared, a giant red robot stood before them.

"HA HA HA! Hello weirdos!" Frida laughed.

"MY VAN!" Radicles cried seeing his beloved Rad-Van trashed.

"Hey isn't that?" Zim started saying.

"Yeah it's that crazy girl from Miracle City!" Dib interjected, annoying his long time nemesis who hates to be interrupted.

"But what is she doing here? How did even she get here?" Ingrid wondered.

"We can figure that out later, right now we got to stop her. And this time we're not going to let her go." Fillmore swore.

"Wait shouldn't we find out what she's doing here first?" Riley suggested.

"No offense but I've been hired to destroy you and this parking lot! This I swear!" Frida announced.

"That answers that," Enid retorted.

"So she's a bad guy huh. **POWER-** " KO was about to scream when Radicles placed his hand on KO's shoulder.

"No bro, she's mine. For the Rad-Van." Radicles vowed. KO nodded in understanding, giving this fight to his friend. **"POWER BATTLE!"** Radicles screamed at the top of his lungs issuing the challenge. With that the other heroes started gathering around, even going as far as to close their stores so that they can watch the fight.

"Aren't you guys going to help him?" Marco wondered.

"He called a Power Battle. That means one on one." Enid explained. Everyone stood and watched as Radicles levitated to top of the robot punching the glass dome like crazy with no effect except bruise his fists. When that didn't work he tried kicking around the robot without even causing a dent. Finally Radicles grabbed hold of one of the robot's legs and tried to flip it over. Radicles grunt and groaned but couldn't even move it one inch.

"Are you done yet?" Frida yawned from inside the robot.

"I haven't even gotten started," Radicles sputtered trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Use your Power Move!" KO cheering his friend on. Radicles nodded and started doing some weird katas. Finishing with him pointing at Frida.

"Ooh what are you going to do now? Pick your nose?" Frida ridiculed.

"No this!" Radicles said as a beam shaped like a pointing finger shot out of his finger hitting the robot square in the chest. While admittedly a strange looking move, the Power Poke (as the agents learned it was called) proved to quite powerful as it started to push the robot back some. Inside the cockpit Frida was struggling to keep her suit stable. Locking its joints and activating the leg anchors to keep standing.

"Is that all you got," Frida laughed after Radicles' attack subsided.

"Unfortunately," Radicles cried knowing that he failed his precious van.

"Great now I can pound your ugly face!" Frida chuckled manically.

"HEY! RADICLES IS NOT UGLY, HE'S BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY HE IS!" KO supporting his friend.

"Thanks bro," Radicles showing his appreciation for his support. Unfortunately proved to be his undoing as Frida took advantage of that distraction to pound him into the ground! "I'm okay," Radicles groaned before Frida's bot stepped on him. "Less okay," Radicles mumbled painfully.

"Hey that's not very nice!" KO protested.

"Oh and what are you going to do about it?" Frida challenged.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" KO screamed charging at Frida; and he wasn't the only one. Now that the Power Battle was done the other heroes of Lakewood were free to attack as well. KO unleashed a fury of rapid punches, but just like with Radicles they did no damage. Enid tried a series of spin kicks to no avail. Some military themed hero called Nick Army threw several exploding burritos, with a cyborg named Red Action firing her leg gun. As well as the other heroes using their special moves on the robot.

Frida quickly retaliated trying to swat KO and Enid away, while at the same time shooting at Red Action and Nick Army. Despite being outnumbered Frida's suit is proving more than a match for the heroes of Lakewood. Off to the sides, the agents where hiding behind some downed tables watching the action. Being a super hero hangout, the tables and chairs tend to get broken a lot, costing Mr. Gar a small fortune of constantly having them replaced, so these new ones have been reinforced to withstand a lot of punishment providing ample protection for the agents from Frida's attack.

"Should we help?" Ingrid asked.

"Well we were originally assigned to take Frida down and I hate leaving a case unsolved." Fillmore reasoned.

"I think we're a little out of our league," Marco commented. Lowering his head as a laser flashed by burning a few strands of hair.

"Has that ever stopped you with Star?" Janna teased.

"Nope," Marco smiled. The other agents all smiled unanimously and quickly devised a plan.

From inside the train, Waddles watched as his agents spread out getting ready to engage their enemy. Fillmore and Ingrid using their natural parkour ability ran around the plaza drawing Frida's fire. Marco and Chis waited for an opening and then started using the moves that Carol taught them, which Frida for the most part ignored. Gage using his spirit medium ability to summon ghosts to empower him, with Janna providing him with 'souvenirs' of deceased heroes that she 'just happen to find' for his seance. Naturally Gage was suspicious of how she obtained these items but this wasn't the time nor place to ask. Meanwhile Biffy were using some of the yarn that he bought to fashion some rope. Then while Frida was distracted, Lee took the rope and quickly tied the legs of Frida's bot, causing the mechanical suit to fall. Seeing their opening, and giving their friends and allies a chance to get clear, Edger, Ellen, Zim, and Dib, brought out their best weapons and opened fired. With Todd and Riley, using the tricks their father taught them, to make makeshift rockets out of condiments to launch at Frida. The heroes not wanting their nonpowered customers to show them up, all started using their special power moves as well.

"Alright stop I think she had enough," Mr. Gar ordered. The heroes and agents ceased their attack but stayed poised ready for anything.

"I have to admit that hurt a little," Frida mocked as her suit stood up with only minimal dents and a few scratches. "But now it's time for me to get serious!" Frida set the suit's weapons to full power. Unleashing a deadly barrage. Sending most of the heroes flying!

"Any more bright ideas?" Todd retorted. While he's not against fighting a crazy girl in a powerful battle suit, he'd like to walk away from it mostly unscathed.

"I'm thinking," Riley spouted in panic. Just then the train's whistle blew signaling that it was about to leave.

"Looks like that's your cue to go," Mr. Gar said.

"But, but," Fillmore protested. He didn't want to leave, even though he knew he'd probably would be that much help anyway.

"Look I thank you for your help. I may have had my doubts about you kids at first, but you've all proved that you can be great heroes. Just not today. Don't worry I still have my final plan." Mr. Gar assured them as he grabbed each and every one of them and threw them into the train. As the last agent crashed into the train, the doors shut and the train started moving.

The agents rushed to the windows and watched as Lakewood grew smaller and smaller the farther they moved away. Then without warning the whole plaza exploded in a huge mushroom cloud! "Guess his final plan fail," Zim said in his usual arrogant tone, but at the same time giving his respects to noble warriors.

"No ths is his Final Plan," Waddles typed as he rolled in the car. ""The sevrets of Lakewood must never fall into evil hands so Gar opted to destroy it first."

"But everyone loved that place. They were willing to fight for it! Didn't he care about their feelings?" Marco objected.

"After Gar retired from superheroing he built the plaza with his own two hands, literally. He made the plaza so that he can help the next generation of heroes in any way he can. He loves that place far more than any of you can possibly imagine. Yet he would not hesitate to sacrifice it in order to save the world." Waddles explained. The agents were quiet as they took a moment to let that sink in.

"Will you be expecting us to make a similar sacrifice?" Dib asked bluntly. While he has no problem sacrificing himself to save the world, he's not so sure he can sacrifice the things he loves as well.

"If the need arises. I'll trust you all to make that judgment call." Waddles responded not even attempting to sugar coat it. The agents all lowered their heads in depression hearing this. "Hey don't worry, the heroes of Lakewood survived worst and I'm sure Gar is already starting to rebuild it." Waddles added to lighten the mood. They all looked at him curiously.

"Your right," Janna said looking out the window. The other agents gathered at the window as well and saw that the buildings were practically coming up from the ground like and inflatable bounce house.

"This isn't the first time Lakewood has been destroyed, and they won't let Box-More get away with what they have done. Both Box-More and Lakewood have been destroyed and rebuilt many times over in the eternal war between good and evil. Every time the heroes have always risen like a Phoenix to the challenge. The question is will you all rise as well?" Waddles asked. The agents all had this look of determination on their faces.

* * *

Over at Box-More, Lord Box-Man along with his staff/kids were celebrating the destruction of Lakewood with a full on party. Complete with balloons, confetti, party hats, and of course cake. Just then Frida kicked the door the door down. She had this furious look on her face with was covered in dirt and a small fire on her hair that she just completely ignored. "Ah Ms. Suarez, I congratulate you on a job well done. Cake?" Lord Box-Man offering her a slice.

"NO!" Frida snapped. "Yes!" changing her mind and accepting the slice. "But what I want is a new suit. The old one exploded on me! So I demand a replacement" Frida yelled stuffing her face with cake. That's right, it wasn't Mr. Gar that destroyed Lakewood, it was Lord Box-Man when he rigged Frida's suit to self destruct.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that," Box-Man said without any sympathy. In fact he looked almost pleased with the results. "But no can do."

"We had a deal!" Frida objected.

"Yes a deal that I will provide you with the B13-B to destroy Lakewood. It's not my fault you lost your precious suit." Box-Man grinned.

"If you don't build me a new suit I'll make you pay. This I swear!" Frida vowed.

"I'd choose your next words very carefully. I don't take kindly to threats especially from thieves who stole the B13-B." Box-Man warned.

"But you gave it to me," Frida whimpered.

"Which is why I'm allowing you and your friends the chance to leave here alive," Box-Man getting up from his seat trying to look more imposing. Which is kind of impossible since he looks like he's part chicken.

"But but," Frida stuttered.

"Or would you rather have me to but a bounty on your head for the theft of the B13-B, which by the way several villains have already pre-ordered." Box-Man turning on the multiple screens on his office showing the villains most interested in the chip. "And they hate any reason for delays." Box-Man threatened.

"Why you~*!?" Frida gagged as her companions all covered her mouth.

"No no, don't trouble yourself. We'll show ourselves out." Django said nervously as he and his friends dragged Frida out of the office.

"So who wants seconds," Box-Man said in triumphant.

* * *

Outside Box-More, Frida was furious. "How dare you all!" Frida was so mad that she couldn't even finish her sentence.

"Don't worry Frida my sweet. All is not lost." Dr. Chipotle Jr. assured her.

"How so?" Frida's curiosity peaked.

"Well when they showed us the chip my mechanical eye made a copy of its circuitry. I even came up with a few improvements. I can make you a far better suit when we get back." Chipotle Jr. explained.

"Oh Diego that's wonderful!" Frida blowing a kiss in his direction. Causing Chipotle to flutter with joy, practically believing that she actually kissed him. Leaving the other two completely jealous. Which did not go unnoticed. "Maybe if you two did a good job like Diego here then maybe I might give you the same," Frida grinned.

"Um I got us a deal on new robot parts for you new suit!" Serigo pleaded.

"And I uh, uh, bought some toxic goop! It actually makes my magic stronger!" Django lied. He really didn't do anything productive but he didn't want to miss out on the chance of getting a kiss.

Frida smiled seeing her minions squabbling like ducks fighting over bread. She knows the importance of giving proper incentive and the need to reward your lackeys to better control them, but she's not ready to actually kiss them yet. She'll do that after she gets Manny back, and that's only to kiss them goodbye.

Meanwhile the scale jumped two whole point towards balance. One for the destruction of Lakewood, the main supplier of hero goods, and Frida becoming stronger. But it then dropped a half a point when Gar finished rebuilding the plaza.


	12. Secret of Pandora's Boxes

A man in his early forties sat quietly in an empty conference table with 8 seats and 7 computer screens, waiting for the others to arrive. Checking his watch he noted they had three minutes left. As the hour struck 6 of the 7 screens turned on with live video of his companions. "Brothers and sisters welcome," the man sneering at the fact that they chose to do a video chat instead of meeting in person. It wasn't too long ago that he would have given the shirt off his back for his old 'friends' and they would have gladly done the same for him, but now they don't even trust each other to be in the same room anymore.

"Spare us the pleasantries Pride. I've got a lot of things to do so let's get this meeting over with." This bloated man wearing a white shirt demanded.

The Brotherhood of SIN, a group of psychics who have long been persecuted by society because of their powers. Disgusted with humanity in general, the members name themselves after the seven deadly sins, dedicating themselves to bringing about Armageddon. They very nearly succeeded if it wasn't for one who oppose them.

"You? Since when did you ever do anything Sloth?" a short ugly woman ridiculed, causing Sloth to scowl at her.

"Be nice Lust, after all we all can't have an army of sex slaves to do our bidding. I'm kind of envious really." said a tall person with a boy's face but a woman's voice. This time it was Lust turn to scowl.

"Enough of this nonsense!" Pride yelled slamming his hand on the table. "Let us get this meeting started."

"Are you sure? After all we're not all here." one man pointing to the empty seat and still off computer screen. "It would seem that Hope has refused your invite."

"I am aware of that Greed, but it cannot be helped. After all Hope was never really one of us, but I felt the need to extend him the courtesy since he possess one of the totems." Pride explained. "Speaking of which..." The others didn't need to be told, and simply presented their totems and place them in front of their computer screens.

* * *

The totems: Several years ago SIN found what they believed to be Pandora's Box and planned to release the 7 plagues of man. However in order to open the box they needed a sacrifice. Their chosen sacrifice, a boy named Gage, somehow manage to interrupt the ritual and destroy the box in the processes. Contrary to popular belief, the seven deadly sins weren't actually imprisoned inside the box but rather their essence was use to create the box itself; and by law of the old gods, the only way for them to be free is that the box had to be opened not broken. Seven cultist members were able to escape with seven fragments. To their amazement each of the fragments contained the essence of one of the sins. The fragments then transformed into various items, called totems, enhancing the members psychic powers.

Pride's Totem, an ear piece connected to a cell phone, enhancing his telepathy. With this there are so secrets from him. He knows more about people than they know about themselves, and this knowledge only makes him more disgusted with humanity.

Greed's Totem, is an old wallet filled with blank pieces of paper, enhancing his power of hypnosis. Greed can make the paper inside his wallet to appear as any amount of cash. In addition he can even create any legal documents, from birth certificates to drivers licences, giving him a multitude of fake identifications.

Lust's Totem, a flower broach, enhancing her pheromones. Despite being short and ugly, Lust's pheromones can drive anyone and any animal wild. She has a small army of love slaves completely and utterly devoted. They are so addicted to her pheromones that they would literally die of a broken heart if she's absent from them for too long.

Envy's Totem, a small camera, enhancing her teleportation. Basically Envy can 'steal' anything she takes a picture of by teleporting it right to her. Small jewelry, cars, trees, buildings, and even people's faces. Which is why she looks taller and like a boy now.

Gluttony's Totem, a pocket knife, enhancing his pyrokinesis. Using his knife, Gluttony can cook and slice at the same time. It also helps him burn calories extra fast so no matter how much he eats he never gets fat. On the down side he's constantly hungry and prefers fresh meat over package ones sold at the market.

Sloth's Totem, a remote control, enhancing his telekinesis. Using the remote he get things do whatever and get whatever he wants without getting out off his butt. In fact he's been living on his electric wheelchair ever since he got his totem.

Wrath's Totem, a set of brass knuckles, giving him full body manipulation. Using the totem, Wrath is able to increase his muscle mass to near superhuman levels. He can also use it for accelerated healing and immunity from any diseases and poisons.

If Hope/Gage was present his Totem would have been a simple lock. Unlike the other totems Gage's didn't take another form and kept it's original appearance as the lock on the box. Never the less it is still a powerful item that enhanced Gage's ability to speak to the dead. Allowing him to not only summon them but also possessing his body granting him their skills and knowledge.

* * *

"Beautiful," Pride cried as he stared at the Totems. Wishing that he could just reach through the screens and get that which is rightfully his. "Once we bring all eight together we can rebuild the box and complete our master plan."

"Yeah about of that," Greed interrupted.

"Let me guess, you're having second thoughts about purifying this sinful world?" Pride snapped. This was the one thing he feared after his companions received their powers.

"Well no, I mean I still hate humanity and all but I just put a down payment for a tropical island, and it would be a shame if the world got destroyed before I can enjoy it." Greed joked.

"Also what will we eat if the world ends?" Glutton wondered taking a bite of fried chicken.

"Plus it just seems like too much work," Sloth yawned.

"Well I feel that death is too good for them. We should make them suffer." Lust laughed sadistically.

"ENOUGH!" Pride screamed. "You've all been corrupted by petty desires! Have you all forgotten that this is the very reason we created SIN?"

"Don't mock it until you've tried it man," Envy mocked. "Still I envy your devotion to the cause. Too bad I can't steal that. Click." Envy pretending to use an invisible camera on Pride.

"If you will not support the cause then you are no longer SIN. Surrender the Totems now!" Pride demanded.

"Consider this my resignation," Greed giving Pride the finger. "And I'm keeping my totem," he declared turning off his screen. The others followed suit by turning off their screens as well. Leaving only one on.

"And what about you old friend?" Pride addressing the last screen.

Wrath didn't say a word. Instead he took his Totem and put them on before getting up and leaving. A few seconds later the door to the conference room opened and Wrath walked in. "You know I'll always stand by you," Wrath pledged.

"Thank you, but now we need the other Totems." Pride reiterated.

"That won't be easy. Other than Sloth who pretty much stays lock up at home, the others move around due to their operations." Wrath reported.

Pride consider this. Ever since the ritual failed and the box destroyed, the members of SIN separated and gone into hiding. After discovering the powers of the Totems, they immediately began using them for their own petty desires. Lust tracked down all the boys she ever had a crush on as well as girls who ridiculed her in order to use her pheromones to turn them all into her personal love slaves. Even though Greed can make all the money he would ever need, he wanted more. He wanted to create his own personal empire. Envy grew up in a orphanage, hating kids with happy families, hating other kids getting adopted, hating how everyone kept accusing her of being a thief just because missing items just happen to appear next to her, just hating everything in general. The only thing that makes her happy is to see others become more miserable than her. She does this by using her camera to 'steal' their happiness. Gluttony travels around looking for new things to burn and eat. Sloth can't even bother to get himself out of bed, so he just uses his remote to do everything for him. Wrath goes around underground fight clubs for money but mainly because he likes to beat people up. As for Pride himself, he uses his mind reading powers to create a vast information network so that he can blackmail anyone to do his bidding. That just leaves Hope.

"Perhaps our eighth brother can help us," Pride smiled.

"Hope?" Wrath puzzled.

"My intel informs me that he and his companion have joined some kind of agency. WADDLES is believe it's called." Pride informed him.

"That's a dumb name."

"It's a acronym for something I don't know it's new," Pride brushed aside.

"So how does that help us?" Wrath wondered.

"We just need to spoon feed this agency clues of the whereabouts of our brethren," Pride hinted at.

"Then he'll gather the remaining Totems," Wrath smiled in understanding. "But how does that get us the totems?"

"I'm certain that a man of your talents can think of a way to 'break' into this agency where ever it is," Pride winked.

"I'll try not to 'break' to many skulls while I'm at it," Wrath joked getting at what Pride is planning. As the two continued making plans of how to use Gale and WADDLES against the other SINs, they failed to notice a small indicator light blinking on Hope's computer screen.

* * *

Over at PHQ the agents and Waddles gathered around computer listening in on the SIN's meeting. At first Gage considered attending this meeting to see what the SINs were up to but Dib had a better idea. After making a lifetime of spying on other people, Dib knew a way to turn on a computer remotely without anyone at the other end realize it's on. Allowing them to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"So what do we do?" Chris asked. While he knew that he and Gage would face off against SIN again, he's always dreaded it.

"They've divided so now we conquer. If Pride thinks he can use us then he's got another thing coming," Gale declared. "I'd say we track him down and take him and Wrath"

 _"Now hold on there,"_ Waddles typed. _"This does present a golden opportuntity."_

"But Waddles this is obviously a trap!" Gage argued.

 _"True but if he's willing to lead us to the others, I'd say we let him."_

"But it's too risky."

 _"Taking out one of the boxes is worth the risk."_

"Wait boxes?" The agents looking at the little pig curiously.

 _"Oops I meant box, sorry I mistype that."_ Waddles apologized. While the agents know that Waddles is a bad typist due to his pig feet's lack of fingers. This wasn't his usual misspellings. _"Anyway no reason for us to rush to a decision just yet, let us wait and see how this plays out before taking action. Oh and before I forget."_ Waddles's eyes began glowing as the agents felt a sharp pain in their heads.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" they all screamed. After a few agonizing minutes, Waddles stopped. "What was that all about?"

 _"Sorry but I was puting up a mental block. This will sheild you from any mind reading. Especially from Pride."_ Waddles explained.

"Isn't there a less painful way to do that?"

 _"Not if you want it to be efective,"_ Waddles justified. The agents looked unconvinced. _"Anyway that's it for now, you can all go home. We'll continue this at our next meeting."_ As the agents boarded the train, Gage stared back at Waddles as if wanting to say something further. However he brushed that thought out of his mind and went into the train. After the train have gone, Waddles headed back to his office. Going through D.I.C.S. archives in his computer he stopped at a file labelled Pandora's boxes. While most have heard the story of Pandora's box, what they don't know is that there wasn't just one box. There were dozens of boxes around the world used to contain evil, most of which were either destroyed or now under the care of various heroes; and while Pandora was only associated with one of them, all of the boxes ended up being named after her legacy. A fact that was kept from the public since they didn't want people searching for any of the remaining boxes. Waddles stopped at the box fitting Gale's description. He then typed his report to his superiors: _'Pandora's Box 47 active. Possible lead. Opening case file.'_


End file.
